I'm standing by the lake in Henham Park, at the launch of this year's Latitude Festival, talking to some of the young bands who will be performing, when I look up and see a lone figure striding down the hill towards me. The bright sun is behind him and I can't quite see who it is.
This must be how Peter O’Toole’s Lawrence of Arabia felt, I muse, watching a mysterious horseman’s slow, jangly approach, through the shimmering desert haze. That turned out to be Omar Sharif.
As the stranger comes closer, I notice the slim jeans, a very stylish leather jacket, shades... and the unmistakable ruffled, copper hair. Cripes! Hollywood’s come to Henham.
It's Damian Lewis, Captain Winters in Band of Brothers, star of Homeland, Billions, Wolf Hall and so much more. But he’s an actor, isn’t he? Why is he carrying a guitar?
Smiling warmly, he greets a group of starstruck young performers from BBC Introducing (BBC Radio's platform for unsigned, undiscovered, and under-the-radar UK music talent). They're thrilled to lean on the guard rail of the bridge over the lake and chat to a Hollywood A-lister about music, while cameras click.
They are Samfire, 26-year-old singer/songwriter Phoebe Mallinson, whose parents live in Aldeburgh where she often walks along the beach to get inspiration. Immensely charming, with a voice of bell-like, glorious clarity, there are shades of Kate Bush in her lyric writing, and her stylish dress sense.
Chic, in her grandmother’s vintage brown velvet jacket, she is accompanied by her guitarist, Q. They will be appearing on the Alcove Stage on Sunday, July 28.
Also chatting to Damian is multi-instrumentalist Loome, aka Tomas Frankson, from Bury St Edmunds, a smart, strong, very engaging guitarist and singer, who, in his huge glasses, bears more than a passing resemblance to Buddy Holly. He’ll be on the Alcove Stage on Saturday, July 27.
The excited young musicians head off for their interviews, leaving Damian free to talk. Playing music, he says, is not a new thing for him.
‘There’s always been music in my life. I was lucky to be at a school (Eton) where music was everywhere.’ He joined his first band at 16 and later, busked around Europe.
‘Acting took over and got serious, but recently, I took a couple of years off, wrote some songs and got an album together.’ Indeed, he needed to take time out after his luminous actress wife, Helen McCrory, star of Peaky Blinders, died of breast cancer in 2021.
The question of whether some of the songs were for her doesn’t need to be asked. In She Comes the lines ‘She comes as a blackbird, she comes as a fox’ and ‘The click of a heel, an abandoned dress’, conjure up vivid images, reminiscent of Nick Cave – who Damian admires – and are written with love.
The album, Mission Creep, has been extremely well received, and reveals Damian as a wonderfully versatile songwriter and singer, with tracks ranging from the rocking blues of Makin’ Plans, which will have everyone dancing by the stage, to poignant, intricate love songs.
He describes his music as ‘rootsy, storytelling, with an Indy feel’ and has been touring in small venues, enjoying sharing his songs, although he admits he can get some very surprised reactions. ‘Why is Captain Winters playing me a love song in Basingstoke?’. But he’s ‘loving every minute’.
Damian is no stranger to Latitude, pitching up (literally) every year in a tent with his family. ‘I’ve always camped here and wandered around with my kids, in wellies. In fact, I’d already booked tickets for this year, when I was asked to perform.’ He’ll walk out on the Second Stage, as a performer, on the Friday night.
‘There could, potentially, be 8,000 people there. It’s the biggest audience I’ve ever played to, and I’ll be nervous – and excited.’ Surely he’ll be installed in a luxury yurt this time? His accommodation, he says, will be no different.
‘I’ll come out of my tent, walk to the gig, play the guitar and come back to my tent.’ I ask if his daughter, Manon, 17, and son Gulliver,16, will be there to see him perform.
‘I told them "Dad’s playing - we’re all going’" – but they probably won’t show up to my gig.’ Surely they think he’s the coolest dad in town? He shakes his head. ‘I do not have kids that think I’m cool.’
Damian has impeccable Suffolk roots. His mum and grandma went to school at St Felix in Southwold and he has a home on the Essex/Suffolk border. He loves it here, and he especially loves Latitude.
‘I was asked, "why play here?" Why not? It’s one of the great festivals, in a beautiful setting. The acts are always good. There’s music, comedy, fantastic food, theatre in the woods, creative, crafty things…and Duran Duran on Sunday evening. Who doesn’t want to see that? I’m very lucky to be playing here.’
Although he’s about to release a second album, the 53-year-old star wants everyone to know that he hasn’t given up acting. In fact, he’s just padded up again as Henry Vlll for a new series of Wolf Hall and will return as billionaire Bobby Axelrod in Billions.
There’s a long history of actors becoming musicians – Russell Crowe, Keifer Sutherland, Johnny Depp to name a few – with varying degrees of success. Does he worry about the critical reaction?
He recalls playing Hamlet, aged 24, in a production staged by Tim Pigott-Smith. He gave the young Damian, who was only a year out of drama school, some good advice.
‘He said, "it is important to remember that the response to your work will vary enormously. Some will like you, some won’t.’" '
I think they’ll like him at Latitude. A lot.
Latitude Festival is at Henham Park, Henham NR34 8AQ, July 25-28. Information and tickets at latitudefestival.com
