Man slays Iron Maiden's Run To The Hills on ukulele while watched by two dogs

He's back! Dutch guitarist Thomas Zwijsen, whose Nylon Maiden project we've covered before, has unleashed his latest masterpiece: a cover of Iron Maiden's Run To The Hills.

Last year he hooked up with Ben Woods to launch a video for their flamenco-style version of Iron Maiden's Aces High, while back in 2014 he released a video for an acoustic version of Run To The Hills.

For this latest version of Run To The Hills, Zwijsen has used that most un-metal of instruments, the ukulele. And he's enlisted his dogs to provide some canine eye-candy.

Zwijsen studied classical guitar at the Artez conservatoire in Arnhem and Latin/jazz/Brazilian guitar at Codarts in Rotterdam. This classical education, combined with an interest in flamenco and metal, strongly influenced his style of performance.

Last month Zwijsen transform Maiden's The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner with an epic fingerstyle version, and in In 2016 collaborated with former Iron Maiden singer Blaze Bayley for a version of Blood Brothers.

Zwijsen's Nylon Maiden albums are available from his website.

Earlier this month Iron Maiden confirmed that they will play no more shows this year, and that their upcoming Legacy Of The Beast tour dates have been rescheduled for 2021.

Manager Rod Smallwood said, "The band are all fine and send you guys their best wishes, they are very much looking forward to getting back on stage next year and seeing you all so, please, continue to take care of yourselves and stay smart."

Iron Maiden 2021 Legacy Of The Beast tour

Jun 11: Warsaw PGE Narodowy, Poland
Jun 13: Bremen Bürgerweide, Geermany
Jun 15: Prague Sinobo Stadium, Czech Republic
Jun 16: Wiener Neustadt Stadium Open Air, Austria
Jun 19: Barcelona Olympic Stadium, Spain
Jun 21: Lisbon Estadio Nacional, Portugal
Jun 24: Bologna Sonic Park, Italy
Jun 26: Stuttgart Mercedes-Benz Arena, Germany
Jun 27: Antwerps Sportpaleis, Belgium
Jun 30: Berlin Waldbühne, Germany
Jul 03: Gothenburg Ullevi Stadium, Sweden
Jul 08: Cologne Rhein-Energie-Stadium, Geremany
Jul 10: Arnhem GelreDome, Holland
Jul 11: Paris La Defense Arena, Paris, France

Iron Maiden 2021 Tour Poster — (Image credit: Iron Maiden)

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.