The Intriguing Dan Whitehouse and Hammered Dulcimer Virtuoso Max ZT at Dartington Hall, Totnes.

DAN WHITEHOUSE & MAX ZT – 

TEN STEPS on tour to TEN VENUES (June 2025)

A spellbinding evening of virtuoso hammered dulcimer and uncannily-gorgeous spoken word.

New Yorker Max ZT aka the 'Jimi Hendrix of the hammered dulcimer' (NPR) and much-loved Black Country tunesmith Dan Whitehouse will reunite for the third time in June 2025 touring their exquisite critically-acclaimed album Ten Steps to ten venues across the UK.

This dreamy collab fuses virtuosic instrumental mastery with soulful song and spoken word drawing on Dan’s experiences living in Tokyo Japan which alongside Max’s deft touch makes for a captivating boundary-pushing live experience.

Grammy-nominated Max ZT’s groundbreaking compositional style takes cues from an array of influences from his training with the Cissokho griot family in Senegal and santoor master Pandit Shivkumar Sharma in India to his deep love of Irish folk.

“Our album and our show incorporate elements of improvisation because we are trying to live in the now as much as possible” says Max. “Musically speaking that’s enlightenment. That’s the real deal”

Dan’s mellifluous vocal and “subtle delicate melodies” (Sunday Times) deliver lyrics inspired by themes of fatherhood his life in Japan golf swings as a metaphor for life and the bungled US withdrawal from Afghanistan. His carefully wrought sometimes improvised words plus Max’s playing elevate audiences to new musical planes.

“Ten Steps is about tapping into the mood of the present moment going with the flow” says Dan. “After four years of playing together we’re more fluid and in-sync than ever.”