A RIBBLE Valley musician is being tipped for stardom - by his MP.

Joe Martin, who is one half of the band the Mirrortones, has even been invited to perform at the House of Commons by Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans.

Joe, who lives in Chipping, said he was humbled by the support he and his bandmate Steph Ashcroft, from Blackpool, had been shown.

He said: “It is great that everyone is helping us and supporting us, we accept humbly any good feedback.

“It is just great and we love pleasing audiences - everyone seems to like us.”

Joe is currently studying for his AS Level exams at Runshaw College, in Chorley, where he will be sitting tests in music, music technology, peformance studies and a virtuoso course, which helps students with their performance skills.

Joe said: “I don’t want to do anything else, I have been singing and playing since I can remember.

“Live music is the best and we love playing gigs.

“It is the excitement of being on the stage and getting to perform our own stuff is great.”

The Mirrortones are in the process of writing music for an EP and will also be auditioning for the Live and Unsigned competition, which would see them perform at the O2 Arena in London.

Joe said: “We are just finding out what we will be writing - we don’t want to stick to a specific genre.

“We want to go on to write all sorts of music.”

Mr Evans, who is also deputy speaker of the House of Commons, first spotted Joe at a charity concert in Longridge.

He said: “They are a great talent and considering they are only 17 years of age, it is fantastic.

”I also heard them last year in Clitheroe and they were absolutely brilliant, they absolutely shone.

“They are tremendous role models and they are definitely going places and one of those is the House of Commons.”

The band is now working towards the release of its first EP, which should be ready in the next few months.

To listen to their first single, Marianne, visit www.soundcloud.com/themirrortones/Marianne