Mike Rutherford, a founding member of Genesis, has always seemed to have a slightly odd relationship with Mike and the Mechanics. It's true that he quickly formed a strong creative partnership with the songwriter BA Robertson and producer Chris Neil but the band has always appeared as if it were something of an afterthought with a cobbled together line-up, only getting Rutherford's full attention between Genesis episodes.

It would be easy, lazy even, to conclude as much when glancing through the band's many, seemingly ever-changing personnel. The problem with that is that Mike and the Mechanics has given Rutherford and the likes of Paul Carrack and Sad Café's Paul Young some of the undoubted highlights of their illustrious careers.

The project has sold 10 million records, conquered America and carved a number of pop-rock hits into the public psyche, not least 1989's The Living Years. Written by BA Robertson about his relationship with his father, and sung by Paul Carrack whose dad had died when the singer was a boy, The Living Years struck a poignant chord with many and delivered Rutherford a No 1 hit in America, where they love a bit of pathos.

And the band has outlived its many line-ups, being recently re-launched with Andrew Roachford (who had a memorable 1989 hit himself, with Cuddly Toy) taking on the majority of vocal duties, along with the Canadian Tim Howar. The new line-up was cemented with Mike and the Mechanics' seventh studio album, 2011's The Road.

Mike and the Mechanics begin their summer tour on Tuesday 26th June in Newcastle, followed by gigs in Glasgow, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Falmouth and Cardiff, before the final date at the Shepherds Bush Empire on Wednesday 18th July 2012.

We have tickets available now for the Falmouth and Cardiff shows, with the remainder going on sale at 9am on Friday 23rd March 2012. All are priced from around £25.