ONE Sided Horse is the new project from Evil Blizzard’s front man, drummer and singer, Mark Whiteside.

And he has saddled up with pop giants Embrace as his backing band for a special show in Preston on Saturday.

Embrace guitarist Richard McNamara teamed up with Preston’s purveyors of masked mayhem last year to produce their latest album - Everybody Come to Church.

And now Whiteside, Evil Blizzard’s leader, is unmasked for the first time alongside a band that has supported Coldplay and U2 on world tours.

Whiteside said: “The last time Embrace played at Preston at the Guild Hall sold out, but the venue we’ve chosen only holds 200 so it is going to be a very different show.

“For Embrace fans it will be an opportunity to get up close and personal with the band and hear the sound of One Sided Horse.

“I’m blown away by the whole thing because it is not every day that you manage to recruit a band that have sold three million records and have played huge stadiums.”

One Sided Horse have already staged two secret warm up gigs with Embrace but Saturday’s date at The Ferret will be their first public appearance together.

“It is very exciting because Embrace are really into what I’m doing with One Sided Horse, and I was amazed when they said they’d perform with me because I’m a big fan of the band.

“Those two gigs were a magical experience for me, and the emotion and power the band brought to the songs was so brilliantly received I asked them if they’d do another show with me in my home town, Preston.”

Mark added: “One Sided Horse is an introspective project, I suppose, and the album, produced by Mickey Dale, Embrace’s keyboardist, is 10 simple songs played on guitar and piano.

“People have been very responsive to the songs, and even though there are inevitable similarities in the sound to Embrace, the music does have a style of its own.

“It’s certainly a departure from Evil Blizzard with songs for quiet nights.”

One Sided Horse will appear with four of the five members of Embrace, singer Danny McNamara is the only band member not involved in the Preston gig.

Meanwhile, Whiteside will be donning his latex mask again when Evil Blizzard return for a Hallowe’en show at Preston’s 53 Degrees venue on October 29.

“It is going to really scary, we’ve some big surprises lined up and we are writing some new songs,” added Mark.

n One Sided Horse and Embrace, The Ferret, Preston, Saturday, September 17. Support from Eevah, who have recorded a duet with One Sided Horse and Crossbill. Tickets available from seetickets.com