Lewis’s early musical experiences were of music parties, fairs and festivals around the Scottish Borders, and of family holidays to the Saint Chartier festival of luthiers and street musicians in central France. Initially becoming proficient in fretted stringed instruments for playing Scottish and Celtic styles of music, he then took up the piano accordion in his teens to pursue a keen interest in Balkan music.
His dedication to the latter genre later led him to collaborations with world class artists: in 2019 he performed at Musicport Festival accompanying Amira Medunjanin, considered the foremost singer of Bosnian Sevdah music, and in 2011 he toured with virtuoso Tcha Limberger, while playing in the band of Hungarian violinist Janos Lang. Lewis has anecdotes of Tcha playing violin continuously in the car between gigs!
Lewis’s skill as a musician and his versatility as a cross-genre multi-instrumentalist was noticed early on, and he worked for several years with violinist and producer Martin Swan playing arrangements of Celtic and European repertoire. They performed live on Radio Scotland, at Celtic Connections and at a major festival in Croatia. Lewis’s first band One Glass Eye were popular in the early 2000s for their Bulgarian rhythms and Balkan melodies.
In 2009, Lewis moved to Newcastle upon Tyne to study Folk and Traditional Music at Newcastle University. During these years he performed with Irish fiddler, singer and composer Tim O’Leary, the four-piece lineup Whirlypit (comprising Morag Brown, Fin Loening, and BBC Young Trad winner Rona Wilkie), and the Babylon Arabic Band (including a performance at Sharq Taronalari International Music Festival in Samarkand, Uzbekistan). After four years of studying, Lewis achieved first class honours in his degree and was awarded the Harry Clews Prize for the final recital with the highest mark.
From 2013 to 2018 Lewis worked as a musician for the charity Live Music Now, founded by Yehudi Menuhin, which gives performances and workshops for members of society who often have restricted access to the Arts – care homes, special needs schools, young offenders’ institutions and hospitals.
Lewis worked from 2017-2023 as an instrumental tutor at the Merlin Academy of Traditional Music, in Melrose and North Berwick, offering lessons on guitar, piano accordion, bouzouki/cittern, mandolin and tenor banjo, and assisting with student concerts.