Categories Album Mission Creep Appearances Events Gallery Music Sports

Damian Lewis to Open British Grand Prix With Performance of National Anthem

Plus a Performance in the Paddock

by Mike Bedigan | Evening Standard | June 27, 2023

British actor Damian Lewis will perform the national anthem as he opens proceedings at the grid ceremony of the Formula 1 Aramco British Grand Prix on race day, Sunday, July 9, 2023, scheduled from 2:45-2:48 pm BST. Also, he and his band will perform live in the paddock at Silverstone on Saturday, July 8 after the qualifying session. Lewis’s performance forms part of Silverstone’s commitment to enhance its music and the arts offering. Some 160,000 people are expected to attend race day with millions more watching across the globe. It’s not the first time Damian has attended the British Grand Prix – view photos of him from last year in 2022 – but it will be his first time performing at the event.  Lewis said:

“Never in a million years did I think I’d be singing the national anthem or playing a gig with my band at the British Grand Prix. It’s so special, with a unique festival atmosphere and I’m honoured to have been asked.”

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Categories A Spy Among Friends Broadcast Media

A Spy Among Friends Heads to ITV and Sky Italia

Broadcast Syndication

by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | July 4, 2023

A Spy Among Friends is coming to ITV1 beginning Sunday, July 9, 2023 at 9:00 pm and Sky Italia on July 17. The television mini-series first aired on the new streaming platform ITVX in the UK back in December 2022, followed by Amazon Prime Video in Canada since February 2023 and more recently on MGM+ in the US from March 2023.

Based on Ben Macintyre’s book by the same name, Nicholas Elliott (Damian Lewis) is working for Britain’s SIS as an intelligence officer and is left in turmoil when he learns his close friend and colleague, Kim Philby (Guy Pearce), has been secretly working as a double agent for the KGB since 1932. Elliot interviews him in Beirut, and then Philby defects to the Soviet Union. The series was nominated in the best mini-series category at the British Academy Television Awards, announced in March 2023.

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Categories A Spy Among Friends Awards Emmy For Your Consideration Print Media

Blinded By the Lies with Damian Lewis

Damian Lewis Shines in A Spy Among Friends

by Benji Wilson | Emmy Magazine, Issue #7 | June 28, 2023

As the unwitting accomplice to one of Britain’s most notorious traitors, Damian Lewis shines in A Spy Among Friends.

When Alexander Cary, an executive producer on Homeland, called his old friend Damian Lewis, star of Homeland and Billions, and said he had the rights to Ben Macintyre’s nonfiction bestseller A Spy Among Friends, the question wasn’t, did Lewis want to do it —the question was, who might Lewis play?

The obvious answer was Kim Philby, the most notorious Soviet double agent in history, who rose high in the ranks of British intelligence in the 1940s and ’50s while funneling secrets to the Russians. But Lewis was more interested in playing Nicholas Elliott.

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Categories Album Mission Creep Events Gallery Interviews Music

Damian Lewis Is Happy Playing Smaller Venues

The Band All Love Playing Live

by Claudia Cockerell | Evening Standard | June 27, 2023

Damian Lewis is accustomed to the strobe of paparazzi bulbs and crowds of fans clamouring for his attention on the red carpet. At its peak, his hit show Homeland was averaging around 7 million weekly viewers. But Lewis is the latest actor to pivot to music, and last week he played an intimate show to about 150 people at Rough Trade, the record store in East London.

The gig was the first since the release of his debut album, ‘Mission Creep’. His sound is folk-rock, with lots of guitar, hints of jazz, and a crooning voice. His influences range from Neil Young to J.J. Cale. What has it been like to go from gracing blockbuster TV shows to performing to a small crowd at an indie venue, I ask? “Fantastic,” he tells me. “The band all love playing live. But we can’t play bigger venues until we’ve proved ourselves in smaller venues”.

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Categories Album Mission Creep Events Gallery Merchandise Music

Evening Standard Speaks With Damian Lewis at Rough Trade East Gig

Always Remember to Twiddle Your Knob

by Ethan Croft | Evening Standard Diary | June 26, 2023

Damian Lewis doesn’t know if he is still an actor after making a departure into the music industry. We caught up with the Homeland star as he performed with a band to a crowd of around 150 friends and fans at Rough Trade in Brick Lane. He was playing tracks from Mission Creep, his debut album.

Lewis’s surprise career change certainly crept up on us. When we asked if he still considers acting to be his main job, he said “I don’t know. Watch this space. We’re not very good at changing lanes in this country. We don’t like people to change lanes. It’s just about whether you’re good or not. It’s as simple as that,” he said.

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Categories Album Mission Creep Gallery Music Print Media Review

Review: Black Deer Festival 2023

Boutique Festival of Americana

by Trev Eales | Louder Than War | June 22, 2023

Sometimes, walking into a festival gives a feel for what’s to come. A dusty track leads through a wild flower meadow as people of all ages haul their weekend belongings towards the festival gate. There’s a small queue for the arena but everyone’s chilled and there’s a laid back vibe.

Stetsons and cowboy boots abound as we leave The Garden of England for a world of Americana. Rows of Harley-Davidsons celebrate the iconic bike’s 120th anniversary, and the smell of barbecues fills the air. The rustic Arkansas Porch Stage echoes with acoustic sounds of the deep south as the audience sit baking in the afternoon sun.

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Categories Album Mission Creep Events Gallery Merchandise Music

Damian Lewis Rough Trade East Gig + Album Signing

Tattoos and Elvis Guitar Picks

by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | June 19, 2023

Presented by Rough Trade East, Damian performed a stripped back set plus live album signing at the Old Truman Brewery located at 150 Brick Lane in London on Monday, June 19, 2023. His performance started at 8:00 p.m. and the album signing began at 9:00 p.m. This unique event was for 300 lucky attendees celebrating the release of Damian’s debut album Mission Creep. More photos from the event in our Gallery.

We were one of those lucky 300 attendees – with boots on the ground – and we didn’t come empty handed. We gifted Damian with some Elvis Presley guitar picks for Christmas (straight from the Graceland store), but forgot to take them to London to one of his other gigs just before the holiday season. So Damian received the picks today as a Happy Album Release Day gift instead. And believe it or not, Damian used one of the Elvis picks at tonight’s gig! 🙂 Watch video about the Elvis pics below:

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Categories Album Mission Creep Gallery Music Print Media

What Damian Lewis Had to Say When Asked About Touring In Australia

Mission Creep: Down Under

by Karishma Sarkari | 9Honey Celebrity AU | June 16, 2023

Homeland star Damian Lewis celebrated a special day over the weekend – the release of his debut album, Mission Creep. On the day his new record came out, and in between filming his new vampire movie The Radleys, the 52-year-old took to the stage to perform at Black Deer Festival of Americana, held in the UK.

Lewis revealed he grew up going to a number of music festivals in “my young 20s, when I started going with pals” and enjoys now sharing the British summer tradition with his children.

“I’ve been to lots of different festivals and I love it. [I] take my kids to Latitude. There’s glamping ways of doing it and there’s real camping ways of doing it – I won’t tell you which one I prefer but I can say I’ve done both,” he laughed.

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Categories Album Mission Creep Gallery Music Print Media

Black Deer Festival Kicks Off With a Scorcher of an Opening Day

Southern Comfort and British Spirit Unite

by Jen Long | The Line of Best Fit | June 17, 2023

Bringing together a diverse line-up, all under the umbrella of Americana, Black Deer’s 2023 edition kicked off with a celebratory sense of collaboration and more than a kiss of sunshine. Everything from folk and bluegrass to gospel and rock’n’roll, Black Deer Festival embraces and celebrates all that rolls into the canon of Americana. Based in Kent’s Eridge Park, the garden of England is transformed into a sea of cowboy boots and stars and stripes for three nights.

British actor-turned-musician Damian Lewis channeled his formative love of Elvis into a raucous set of rockabilly jams and segued from bolstering country-rock to London accented banter with a seamless charm. Playing at The Ridge, the festival’s tent-covered second stage, Damian brought together one of the bigger crowds of the early afternoon with his honky-tonk-ready rock n roll.  His Elvis inspiration is detailed in our recent Nine Songs chat. Outside the tent the sun beat down, “I didn’t know we were gonna be inside. I’ve got factor fifty on, and now it’s all in my eyes,” he joked. View more photos from the event in our Gallery.

Primary Source: The Line of Best Fit
Secondary Source: The Line of Best Fit

Categories Album Mission Creep Music

Damian Lewis Played Music Gig at Black Deer Festival

Hoedown of the Summer

by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | June 16, 2023

Damian returned to the stage for a live gig at the 4th annual Black Deer music festival on Opening Day, Friday, June 16 – the same day as his album release for Mission Creep. Photo above shows Damian playing tracks from his new album to a packed Ridge tent stage. He also signed copies of his album during the festival. According to Soundsphere Magazine, “It’s scorching hot, the BBQ is on and the beers are cold. Damian Lewis has just released his first album and is casually propping up the bar.”

Watch an exclusive clip of his Black Deer performance and interview with ITV News Arts Editor Nina Nannar here. They spoke backstage about what it’s like for Damian to return to music. You can also listen to the interview here or the full podcast here. Damian told Nina,

“My kids don’t like it. Full stop. They want Dad to be dad. And they’re much happier when Dad’s cab is available and running and taking them to school. It’s very interesting when even your own children say, ‘Dad, you’re an actor. Now you’re pretending to be a rock star or a musician.” 

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Categories A Spy Among Friends Interviews Print Media

Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce Dig Into a Real-Life MI6 Double Agent Story

Best Limited Series First-Round Emmy Contender

by Hugh Hart | Los Angeles Times | June 16, 2023

He’s portrayed intense terrorist Nicholas Brody in “Homeland,” domineering mogul Bobby Axelrod in “Billions” and mercurial King Henry VIII in “Wolf Hall,” but Emmy-winning British actor Damian Lewis rarely plays the fool. Breaking type in the fact-based Cold War thriller “A Spy Among Friends,” Lewis chose to portray MI6 operative Nicholas Elliott, who’s stunned by the realization that his best friend Kim Philby is a traitor working for Communist Russia.

The MGM+ limited series, based on Ben Macintyre’s book of the same title, casts Australian actor Guy Pearce (“L.A. Confidential,” “Memento,” “Mare of Easttown”) as the lethally charming Philby. Set in 1963, “A Spy Among Friends” hopscotches through three decades of flashbacks that culminate inside a Beirut safe house: Elliott’s supposed to bring Philby back to England, where he’ll face the consequences of his treachery. Instead, Philby flees to Moscow.

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Categories Album Mission Creep Music

Damian Lewis Busking in London

Fitzrovia

by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | June 15, 2023

Damian was seen busking just outside Fitzroy Square in London earlier this week. He sure is brushing up on his public performance skills! One wonders if his guitar case was out of shot on the ground accepting gratuities 😉 More photos and video in our Gallery here.

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