NEIL Jones of the Stone Foundation describes the past few months as being “bizarre but wonderful”.

Having plugged away for the past 10 years, the Midlands-based outfit have suddenly found themselves on a crest of a wave with their new album Street Rituals going straight into the charts at number 25 and a ringing endorsement from no less a figure than Paul Weller.

Weller both produced Street Rituals and played on all of the tracks - he took lead vocals on Your Balloon is Rising. He also co-wrote two songs with lead singer Neil Jones and bassist Neil Sheasby.

Now the Stone Foundation are heading out on their biggest UK tour which includes a date in Manchester tomorrow night.

“A lot of people have followed us for a long time and you get the sense that for them it feels like their team has just got to Wembley.” said Neil.

“I think what has happened to us shows you should never give in.

“I would say to people, just stick with it. If you love it, there’s no reason not to do it. If you absolutely love making music, eventually you’ll come up with something.

“I’m not saying you’ll end up working with Paul Weller but everyone’s got a target they can get to. Each year me and Sheas have worked towards something and then pushed the bar a little higher.”

Stone Foundation have been one of the soul and mod scene’s best kept secrets and the new album showcases their undoubted talent and songwriting abilities.

“With every record we’ve made we’ve tried to have a different sound,” said Neil.

“For this record we were really influenced by the early Seventies sound. With everything going on in the world we wanted to make a record that harks back to those albums by Marvin Gaye or Curtis Mayfield. We wanted to make a social record, one that made people think about the communities they live in.”

It was Stone Foundation’s refusal to compromise their sound which attracted the attention of Paul Weller.

“He just rang me out of the blue to say how much he liked the band and our last record A Life Unlimited,” said Neil. “Then the second time he got in touch to say he was working on a track and wondered if we’d like to work on it with him. So he sent over the structure of what became Limit of a Man, it was just the piano break and basic the chord structure.

“I spent ages working on a chorus that would be uplifting. We sent it back, he loved it and invited us to his studio.”

The band took half a dozen song ideas to Weller’s Black Barn studio.

“He said ‘I think you’ve got a record here lads. Why don’t you go away and come back and we’ll work on a whole record?’, said Neil.

“There are certain people who influence you heavily and Paul is one of those people.

“So for the first five or 10 minutes in the studio we were sort of doing a double take and going ‘that’s Paul Weller’. But after that it was normal. He sat in as part of the band and he was just one of the lads. Now I’m fortunate enough to be able to class him as a good mate.”

Weller invited the Stone Foundation to support him at a charity concert at the Royal Albert Hall. He even ‘borrowed’ the band’s horn section for a couple of songs.

“That was some way to launch the album,” laughed Neil. “It still doesn’t feel as though we really played that gig. We got meet Ronnie Wood backstage and Roger Daltry was there. It was nuts.”

Now the Stone Foundation are taking Street Rituals on the road.

“It feels like we have been waiting 10 years rather than a year and a half to tour this record,” said Neil. “This is the bit I love. We have crafted the songs and now we get to go out and play them live in front of people. You get to see that instant reaction in front of you.”

Stone Foundation, Ruby Lounge, Manchester, Friday, April 28.