ELBOW guitarist Mark Potter is celebrating the release of a new record with side project The Plumedores.

He told reporter Andrew Bardsley about the new EP, and the plans to release a new Elbow album next year, the first without drummer Richard Jupp.

Mark likes to keep busy. When he isn’t walking his dog or enjoying a pint in a pub near his home in Greenmount, he’s either recording or rehearsing with Elbow, or more recently with his new band The Plumedores.

I say new, but the project has been in the pipeline for about five years.

Consisting of Mark on acoustic guitar, old friend Danny McTague on vocals and harmonica and electric guitarist Dean Casement, who Mark met after watching him perform at a jam night at the First Chop in Ramsbottom.

Mark explains: “It has been going on for about four or five years now. Danny is a very old friend of mine. We’ve played guitar together for years and years, and then a few years ago I heard him sing.

“I said: ‘Danny, where’ve you been hiding this voice?!’”

The three piece are influenced by all things blues, folk and roots, and are playing four gigs to mark the release of their first

The Plumedores is not the only Elbow side project, with Guy Garvey recently releasing his first solo effort.

And Mark explains playing with The Plumedores has given him a new outlet to express his musical influences in a way not always possible with Elbow.

He said: “Because in Elbow there is no one songwriter, obviously Guy is the lyricist, but all five of us always contributed to the music. There are going to be things that you bring to the table that don’t fit in with what Elbow are doing.

“That’s the same reason why Guy has wanted to do a bit of solo stuff while we have had a bit of downtime.

“It has been a real outlet to do something different, and to do it with my best mate is a bonus.”

He said: “It’s not wasted on me. I’m still very aware that this is a new project, and to be able to have that little leg up to the Royal Festival Hall is amazing.

“But we are just going to do our thing, to a bigger stage and a bigger audience.”

As well as planning a full album with The Plumedores, Mark says Elbow, who first rehearsed in St Anne’s church hall in Tottington more than 25 years ago, are hard at work on their seventh album, the follow up to 2014’s number one record The Take Off and Landing of Everything.

It is the first without drummer Richard Jupp, who recently announced his decision to leave the band to pursue other projects including a drum school.

And Mark says the band is not seeking a full time replacement, but instead use a mixture of friends and session musicians.

He said: “We’re not going to replace him. He has been with us for 25 years plus, right from the beginning.

“He just got to a stage in his life where he wanted to do other things, and we understand that totally and wish him all the best.

“We’ll be pulling in some favours, asking a few drummers we know in established bands to play on the record, but the drummer that Guy had on tour with him will be touring with us.

“It was a little weird initially to lose a core member, it’s a little bit like ending a relationship. But the dynamic with the four of us feels like being in a band again for the first time.

“It has obviously changed the way we write, at the moment we’re using lots of drum loops and drum machines, and we’re keeping the song writing simpler than we’ve ever done.

“In the past Elbow would go in the studio and write and record alongside, but we’ve decided from 30 or 40 songs we want them completed before we even go near the studio.”

Elbow plan to release their seventh album in March next year, and after initially working at Guy Garvey’s home studio will reconvene at their Blueprint Studio in Salford before Christmas to complete the record.

And Mark reveals there is much excitement within the Elbow camp for the album.

He said: “All I know is that so far, it’s all of our favourite record to date, we’ve never been so excited.

“It feels like we’ve started again, like we’ve just got together even though we’ve known each other for 30 years. There’s a real freshness and buzz in the rehearsal room at the moment.”

A 12” inch vinyl pressing of their self-titled EP limited to 500 copies is available at theplumedores.tmstor.es