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.”
The pair first met online during Covid (Max was in Brooklyn, and Dan was stranded in Japan) through the international folk music project Global Music Match. ”Like online dating for musicians,” jokes Dan. “It was interesting how effortless our songwriting collaboration was, from the start.”
Each and every live performance is a singular, unrepeatable moment of connection – as much about living in the moment as it is about musical craftsmanship.
Alongside Ten Steps, Max and Dan also bring pieces from their solo repertoires.
“Intriguing… gorgeous” – The Guardian
“Meditative.. haunting… great musicianship” – Maverick
“Quite extraordinary record” – folking.com
“A compelling and innovative sound” – Arts Culture Magazine
“Exciting and exceptional… deeply intuitive, poetic and rewarding” – KLOF Mag
Tickets: dan-whitehouse.com/live
LIVE VIDEO – TITLE TRACK ‘TEN STEPS’: Watch on YouTube
LIVE VIDEO – ‘SHIZUKA’ (meaning ‘quiet’ in Japanese): Watch on YouTube
More about Ten Steps
“Ten Steps is the title track of our 2023 album release, and one of our earliest collaborations,” says Dan. “Max composed a piece in 10/4 time. Upon listening I heard it as a dance of ten steps. At the time I was standing on the precipice of a big change in my personal life – my young son moved to Tokyo with his Japanese mother. I took a flight out east to visit them in Jan 2020 and we all know what happened next in the world!
“But it wasn’t just Covid that kept me landlocked in Japan – I suffered an injury to my ear that meant I was unable to fly. What followed was 18 months on a deep dive into Japanese culture.
When I eventually had to leave Japan – my son was only 6 at the time – I felt the journey was impossible, so I wrote these words as a letter to him, wishing him well and sending strength for the steps he had to take ahead into this new world, apart.
“I now appreciate that leaving will always eventually be followed with an arrival.”
“Ten Steps is written in a jurjuna – a rhythm from Armernia” says Max, “and it is indeed often used in folkloric dance. Coupled with Dan’s words to his son, we felt this was a perfect first piece to start the journey of the album.”
Thurs 19.06 Great Hall Dartington Trust
Fri 20.06 Waterside Arts, Sale
Sat 21.06 Water Yeat Village Hall
Sun 22.06 The Cluny, Newcastle United
Mon 23.06 The Old Bell Hotel Derby
Tues 24.06 Stroud Valley Arts Space: Brunel Goods Shed
Weds 25.06 Green Note, London
Fri 27.06 St Edith Folk
Sat 28.06 The David Hall South Petherton
Sun 29.06 Royal Birmingham Conservatoire