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It's the hottest new music act of the summer, with national radio airtime, celebrity fans and even a link to Sir Paul McCartney - but the Monarchs Blues Band is no overnight success. In fact, with a combined age of 345 and decades of performing, from busking on the street to performing on stages, the Cheshire five-piece are enjoying every minute of their late-flowering triumph.

"It's amazing - a fantastic adventure, which is what you want," says band member Martin Evans, 59, who learned how to play the blues guitar at 17. "None of us are bothered about being famous or anything like that, it's just experiences. Life is one adventure after another, hopefully the good ones."

The blues brothers (and one sister), aged from 59 to 85, are having a remarkable year after being crowned winners of the One More Dream contest on Boom Radio station. They've just released their footstamping debut single, Barefootin', and it's going down very well with Boom Radio listeners. So much so, that Boom is playing it in every show across the week. And they're set to entertain thousands as the the headline act on an upcoming cruise ship.

"What we do is vintage music on vintage instruments by vintage people," declares frontman Les Green, 65. Which might be why the Monarchs beat off over 400 other acts in the competition launched by the radio station for baby boomers after impressing celebrity judges Tony Hadley, Suzi Quatro and Tony Christie. Their prize included a recording session at the legendary London AIR studios, founded by Beatles producer Sir George Martin - but that's not the only link to music legends.

"My mother was best friends with Paul's auntie," says saxophone player and grandfather-of-three Dave Roberts, 85. "Because I was slightly taller than Paul, he was getting my cast-off gabardines at school. I wouldn't mind having his cast-offs now! Later on, when I got a clarinet, I went round to his house and I played with Paul and George, because like me, they went to the Liverpool Institute grammar school. They weren't interested in jazz though, so I wasn't particularly interested in them. But I believe they've done quite well in their own field," he laughs.

Dave's own career as a writer didn't go so badly either. "I was writing for the BBC, I had radio plays on Radio 4 and a stage play," he says. "Alan Bleasdale in Liverpool encouraged me, and I had a play done by the Everyman Theatre Company. But the thing about writing is it's such a quiet, lonely thing to do, whereas it's fun in bands because you're meeting a lot of interesting people." Les, who's been singing and playing guitar for 50 years, spending years busking in a rockabilly trio outside the Woolworths on Liverpool's Church Street, nursed dreams of music success as a young man.

"Back then there was still a chance in my head that you could do something and get seen but it was difficult outside of London, your chances were few," he admits. A highlight was when renowned session guitarist and producer Chris Spedding once turned up at one of Les's rehearsals. But Les recalls watching friends find music success including one pal, Dave, who went to London as a professional musician, toured America, played at Tommy Hilfiger's birthday party and made records with Jeff Beck.

"At the time I had a family and he didn't," says Les, a father-of-two and grandfather-of-four. "But you can't allow yourself to wonder what would have happened if you'd gone - you'd end up kicking yourself for 40 years." Family and friends have been thrilled by the band finally getting their dues. "Some people were saying, 'oh, it's about time something happened, you've waited and plugged away'," he says.

And while other veteran groups are legendary for smashing up hotel rooms and indulging in rock and roll excess, that lifestyle isn't for the Monarchs. "I've been a vegetarian since my mid-20s, before it was trendy," says painter decorator Martin, who teaches tai chi. "I remember being in a pub and announcing I was going vegetarian to my work colleagues, and got handed a potted plant straight away. They said, 'eat that'."

And forget about all-night partying, Les doesn't stay up until the wee hours - that's when he wakes up. "When you get to my age, you're up about four," he smiles. Drummer Madge Richard, 61, is more likely to be found mucking out her horse Delboy than tripping the light fantastic, in fact she didn't pick up drum sticks until the age of 47, when her husband bought her a drum kit. "He thought it was time I had a midlife crisis," says Madge, who teaches English as a second language. "He'd remembered that I'd told him 20 years previously that I'd always wanted to play drums.

"But since I decided I wanted to play in a band, he's always been supportive. He really likes what the Monarchs do. He likes all the guys as well, comes to gigs and he's really proud of us." The members of the Monarchs prove that age is no bar to doing anything new. Madge admits she had to overcome the voice in her head saying, "you're too old for this."

"It stopped me from relaxing into it and becoming a better drummer much sooner than I did," she admits. "I could have done it five years before I actually did, but I held myself back. If other people look at us and think, 'I might be in my mid-70s but I remember I used to play a pretty mean guitar, why don't I take it up again?' that would be wonderful."

And Martin insists: "It's always been completely and utterly irrelevant what ages we are. I don't even think we notice. We just turn up and play, and that's it. It's never been discussed, never been thought about. I put the band together initially because I wanted to play in an authentic-sounding blues band with a bit of swing in it.

"It took a couple of years to find the right people, some things work and some don't, but over about a two-year period it all clicked together." One member is double bass player Ilbert Jones, 74, a retired graphic artist, who used to busk with Martin and the band's former drummer in Chester, playing on the instrument he bought as a youngster for £5. "It became bigger than any of us ever thought it would," says the grandfather-of-two.

The final validation is winning the competition. It was all the sweeter for Madge, knowing that her hero, 70s glam rocker Suzi Quatro was on the panel. "I was absolutely chuffed to bits," she says. "The judging panel was pretty damn impressive, but there was only one that really, really mattered. The fact that Suzi liked us means even more than all the other judges put together, which is doing them a massive disservice, but she is my hero."

The band performs 15 to 20 times a year at selected festivals, clubs and blues venues, and their song list includes favourite covers such as Herbie Hancock's Watermelon Man, Route 66 by Nat King Cole and T-Bone Shuffle by T-Bone Walker. They encourage other musicians to keep playing and writing music. "The technology's there so nothing's stopping you from creating music," says Martin. "It doesn't matter if you're famous. Create what you want to create, be true to yourself, enjoy it, and don't be scared to get out there."

None of them are interested in a quiet retirement. "I couldn't just sit around and twiddle my thumbs," says Les, who also writes poetry, short stories and slash fiction. Dave has played in a jazz quartet for 45 years, and like many men in his age group, he is juggling the Monarchs with caring for his partner, a classical clarinet player, who is recovering from breaking her hip and pelvis. "The main thing about this whole situation is that it's great fun," says Ilbert, who described their recording session with Womble producer Mike Batt as "wonderful".

"Mike Batt was so good, he knew the psychology of musicians and he knows what to say and how to say it to get the best out of you." Martin describes their session in the AIR studios as "being like a Rolling Stone for the day." The Monarchs now hope to find an agent and secure slots at blues festivals.

"We'll be happy as long as we can do the odd gig and stay together playing, because it's so enjoyable," says Ilbert. "There are no huge egos. We'll just keep going forward and enjoy it."

• Barefootin' is available to listen to on major streaming platforms.