Max ZT and Dan Whitehouse bring a haunting blend of virtuosic hammered dulcimer and soulful spoken word to eight beautiful listening spaces on their UK tour this October.
New Yorker Max ZT, aka the “Jimi Hendrix of the hammered dulcimer” and Black Country tunesmith Dan Whitehouse are taking their unmissable live show promoting new LP Ten Steps on the road.
At once timeless and decidedly modern, the Ten Steps album was recorded between New York and Tokyo. Max’s meditative dulcimer and Dan’s soothing spoken-word poetry meld together in a unique masterpiece of tear-stained impressionism.
“We try to be in the moment as much as possible”, says Max of the live shows. “There are flashes of enlightenment, elements of improvisation. It’s the real deal. We rarely get such moments of connection in real life.”
Tackling subjects as wide-ranging as fatherhood, golf swings and the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Max ZT and Dan Whitehouse’s songs shimmer with restless inventiveness and draw you in with their irresistible intimacy.
Max ZT is renowned for his groundbreaking compositional style, taking stylistic cues from a dizzying array of influences. He studied in Senegal with the Cissokho griot family and in India, where he received a grant to study under the santoor master Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, but he also loves Irish folk. Part of the respected trio House Of Waters, ZT is signed solo to Six Degrees Records, and has been described by NPR as the ‘Jimi Hendrix of the hammered dulcimer’.
Dan Whitehouse has released seven solo albums and been celebrated for his “subtle and delicate melodies” (Sunday Times). Nominated for the FATEA 2022 Innovation Award, Dan has become known for his drive to renew, re-invent and imagine, and the Ten Steps project see him push boundaries further, stepping into the arena of improvisation and spoken word.
“When Max plays it feels like the sky is opening up”, says Dan of this project. “I see things that weren’t there before. Ultimately I think that’s why we turn to art. We yearn to get outside of our own heads and see the world from another’s perspective.
“This is what Max ZT and I are doing with Ten Steps – tapping into that deep, shared magnetic field.”
Artists’ website: https://danwhitehouse.bandcamp.com/album/ten-steps
‘Ten Steps’ – live:
Tour Dates
Wednesday 18th October – Arc Theatre, Winchester
Thursday 19th October – Music At The Unicorn, Abingdon
Sunday 22nd October – Stables 2, Milton Keynes
Tuesday 24th October – The Pheasantry, Pizza Express, London
Wednesday 25th October – Ropetackle Arts, Shoreham
Thursday 26th October – The Old Stables, Cricklade
Friday 27th October – Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
Saturday 28th October – The Stoller Hall, Manchester
Tickets available now from dan-whitehouse.com/live
Read our review of Ten Steps here.
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