The Loving Cup have impressed BBC radio presenter Mark Lamarr so much that he has booked them to play live on his Radio 2 show.

It makes a remarkable turnaround for the band, whose promising career appeared to have stalled three years ago, when they were poised to release what was hoped would be a breakthrough single.

But now they have been gaining a large amount of airplay on the station, and stand-up comedian and DJ Lamarr has asked them to do a live performance for listeners in September.

The country rock 'n' rollers, with members from Flint and Deeside, have just finished recording their second album, 'Goofer Dust', and their reputation has been forged over recent years by performances across the UK on the American circuit.

They are regulars at the Burnley Blues Festival and Great British Rhythm and Blues festival, and have performed on BBC Radio Lancashire's Blue Notes programme and sessions for BBC Radio Wales.

They will get plenty of practice before the prestigious Radio 2 gig, with dates in Wrexham and Chester forming part of a busy tour over the next few months.

Recently on his show God's Jukebox, Lamarr described the track 'Bring Along Your Lovers' from the forthcoming LP as "an instant classic".

The band have also been included on the playlist for the legendary Bob Harris's show, also on Radio 2.

Drummer Neil Roberts said: "Mark and Bob Harris are playing a few of our songs at the minute and are saying great things about us.

"We've been getting some decent airplay on Radio 2 and we are looking forward to playing on the show."

He firmly believes country and blues music is still popular, adding: "There is definitely a place for it, there's no other band out there doing what we do at the moment."

In 2003, The Loving Cup released their debut album of the same name on the Blue Rhythm label and in 2005, they were preparing to release their debut single – a double A-side of previously unreleased material.

But their record label folded and so the proposed single release never went ahead.

But one of the tracks, 'Candyman', received considerable TV exposure as music for a Morrisons supermarket advertising campaign.

The band is made up of Jarred Livesey on vocals and acoustic guitar, Andy Vickers on lead guitar and vocals, Gareth Catterall on rhythm guitar, Neil Roberts on drums and Andy Whitfield on bass.

For more information about the band visit www.myspace.com/thelovingcup.