Introducing Dan Whitehouse
“I believe in the power of creativity and self-expression and this fuels all of my work”
Award-winning singer-songwriter Dan Whitehouse continues to renew, reinvent and reimagine – touching listeners with his observations and moving them with his sensitivity and impeccable songwriting.
Sitting on the foundations of teenage touring and recording with Naomi and Sonara, Dan’s early career culminated with a Reading Festival appearance in 2003. After going solo, Dan signed to Reveal Records with whom he released three celebrated albums.
The son of a Wolverhampton community radio pioneer, Dan started his recording and touring career as a teenager with Naomi before fronting the rock band Sonara and playing Reading Festival. After deciding to go solo, Dan released his first two albums on his own label before signing to the Reveal Records roster alongside Joan As Policewoman and The Little Unsaid.
Dan’s 2020 release Dreamland/Tomorrow, was described as unveiling a “strikingly new maturity and willingness to push the envelope” (Folk Radio UK), featuring collaborations with John Elliott (The Little Unsaid), Eric Lane (Joan as Police Woman), minimalist composer Richard J. Birkin, and BBC Jazz Award-winning Saxophonist Xhosa Cole.
“Nothing short of beautiful – **** ” – RnR Magazine
“Wonderful production and writing” – Tom Robinson BBC 6 Music
2022 saw Dan continue to develop and evolve his offering whilst showing how he carefully nurtured his creativity during an imposed stay in Japan from January 2020 to June 2021.
Releases included The Glass Age – a collaboration with Swedish musician Gustaf Ljunggren, which looks at how our human experience and ways of connecting have changed through the ‘glass’ of virtual communication. Another, his Arts Council funded song-cycle Voices From The Cones (link to album), draws from the oral history archive of Stourbridge Glassworks. Voices From The Cones – hit the Folk Charts at #15 and was nominated for an ‘Innovative Project 2022’ award by FATEA.
In 2023 Dan continues his collaboration with New York hammered dulcimer player Max Z-T. Their debut record Ten Steps (link to album) will be out in September and the duo will tour in October. April saw the release of Reflections On The Glass Age (link to album) – an acoustic sequel to The Glass Age – presenting the same songs stripped-back, in emotional and vulnerable performances.
The coming together of community through music has always been important to Dan, and is something he draws upon both in his own work, and as a songwriting mentor and skilled workshop leader with projects such as Dudley Days and the Brierley Hill Song Book.
Dan also presents a monthly production on Brum Radio – The Glass Age Show.
“Dan has an outstanding singing voice, possesses a unique artistic vision and displays songwriting excellence.” Chris Difford
“Wonderful production and writing” Tom Robinson BBC 6 Music
“Perhaps Mr Whitehouse’s greatest gift is his knack for writing seemingly simple songs that most listeners will be able to relate to.” MAVERICK
“Subtle and delicate melodies” The Sunday Times
“Nothing short of beautiful – **** ” RnR Magazine
“Devotees of inventive, imaginative music-making should enjoy the new offerings from the excellent Dan Whitehouse.” Morning Star
“For an album partly inspired by distance, barriers and locked-down-ness, people and connection ripple through The Glass Age.” Arts Culture Mag
“… an earworm chorus hook that should send a luminous glow through Radio 2.” Mike Davies
“A seven track meditation on the way human experience and connecting has changed through the medium of virtual communication.” folking.com
“Maybe one day social historians will document the cultural impacts of screens and instant communication. When they do this album should be mentioned as it sums up this Zeitgeist better than anything I’ve heard”. FATEA
The Glass Age
