After an 8 year silence on the recording front, Nibs van der Spuy and Guy Buttery release their sophomore release as a duo today.

The Dolphin Coast has a special place in their hearts as this is where their collaborative work first began.

Nibs was a teacher at Crawford La Lucia and Crawford North Coast for seven years, and though he lived in Westville, he travelled daily to the Dolphin Coast in that time and said that the journey was the inspiration for his 2005 album entitled Beautiful Feet.

Guy Buttery was a pupil at Crawford North Coast when he first met Nibs.

Following a successful string of concerts in South Africa, these internationally renowned musicians toured to many major festivals and venues throughout Europe and the UK accompanied by the release of their collaborative release “In the Shade of the Wild Fig” in 2012.

The duo won the Standard Bank Ovation Award at The National Arts Festival as well as receiving a SAMA nomination for their album, described by FanBible as “the finest collaboration between two South African musicians”.

Now, recorded at the end of 2019 in Europe, “Live in Lisbon” see’s their return with a stripped-down performance beautifully captured beside the mighty Tagus River just outside the capital city of Portugal.

The real magic of a Buttery and Van der Spuy performance is in the moment, with a constant and spontaneous exchange of energy which transcends their individualities as two separate parts, shaping up something entirely new.

Rolling Stone Magazine spoke of this as well saying, “their individual and quite distinct finger-style techniques fit each other like the proverbial glove.”

Guy Buttery comments, “knowing Nibs so well as a friend, often reminds me of how transparent music really is.

“We both always talk about the ability to ‘see’ where either of us are taking the music with each moment, and more importantly what each other’s intention are when going in a certain direction.

“This always feels very special to bear witness to”.

This concert recording also acts as something of a “best of” from their twenty year partnership showcasing their profound abilities to explore each piece, interlocking with tightly fused dynamics as well as featuring new and unrecorded songs.

Recorded in Belém just outside Lisbon, this little seaside town was the launch pad for the countless ships which sailed into the unknown in search of new frontiers over 500 years ago.

Vasco de Gama, set sail from there in 1498, and named Natal after arriving on Christmas day in the seaport before it became Durban, in KwaZulu-Natal.

Nibs van der Spuy recalls the night: “It had been a good while since we had played live together, but all the essential ingredients were still very much present.

“Neither of us were aware that everything was perfectly in place and that we were being recorded.

“From this intimate setting in Portugal, with a bunch of beautiful people who came from all corners to be a part of this wonderful evening, we are incredibly happy to share this recorded moment with the rest of the world.”

“Live in Lisbon” has been released exclusively through Bandcamp.

The album is now available HERE.

To show their support for this exclusive release, Bandcamp has offered to waive all their fees for sales on Friday, 7th August with 100% of the proceeds going to the artists to aid musicians during the pandemic.

Purchases on this day are greatly appreciated and mean a lot to the artists.

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