Guy Collins

Guy Collins is a guitarist, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in Kongsberg, Norway — originally from Cape Town, South Africa. With nearly 35 years on the guitar, his sound is one of the most genuinely global in the European blues scene today.

His musical world draws from African Roots, Zulu Maskandi, Malian Desert Blues, New Orleans Funk, Cape Goema, Southern Gospel, Roots Reggae, Rock ‘n Roll and Mississippi Hill Country Blues — a rare and deeply personal fusion that defies easy categorisation.

It all started on a warm afternoon when he was 15, and the distant sounds of Howlin’ Wolf on Highway 49 drifted into his living room from somewhere deep in the American South. That moment changed everything.

Collins cut his teeth in 1995 in the student town of Stellenbosch, South Africa, with cult blues-rock band Billygoat — an improvisational outfit that became a festival favourite across the country, drawing on the spirit of Hendrix and the Allman Brothers rather than the grunge wave around them.

His recent projects span continents and genres: his own raw blues duo Mean Black Mamba, South African fusion band Donovan Copley’s Hot Water, the legendary Gerald Clark and The Deadmen, and The Rockskaandi Kings — a band fusing Zulu maskandi with roots rock.

Guy was recently interviewed in BYHOPOD.

Now based in Norway, Collins brings the warmth of the Southern Hemisphere to the European blues circuit. He is a relaxed and dynamic performer, equally at home in intimate venues and on festival stages — and is currently working on releasing a catalogue of long-overdue original material.