BREAKING NEWS: Worlds 1st Easter CO Club on a Good Friday, in a Pub, in Ireland, and it’s our birthday. Sure why wouldn’t ya!! Rob Burch Paul Clarke Ada McHugh

We'll have music from Grainne Hunt Music & Robert John Ardiff on Friday night. There'll also be words from Nuala Leonard Poetry. See you there at 9:30pm in Crean's Bar

Local baker Barbora Browne was a great fit for our artist slot at the CO Club. The art of bread making was on show and its importance and appreciation was very much to the fore on the night. Barbora who set up Baska Bakery in Oldcastle only a few months ago is inundated for her sourdough breads and they can be purchased in Floods butchers and The Happy Cup Cafe but get in early as they "go like hot cakes" pardon the pun... Barbora is passionate about bread making and she has a deep appreciation of the process and ritual of making bread. With only a few ingredients in her breads the bread is reared with care taking almost 2 days from the start to plate they are baked fresh each morning and delivered to the shops while still warm. Barbora explained in detail the history of bread stating the first reference to bread making going back to 2000BC around the same time that alcohol was discovered how convenient for us as we got to try both on the night. Barbora brought a selection of breads to treat the audience with and everyone left a little bit wiser, a little bit fuller and a lot happier. It is great to see these crafts returning to our community, we look forward to a Baska Bakery opening in the Town sometime in the near future.

Pine The Pilcrow, one of our greatest assets on the Irish music scene returned to the CO Club for a second time and were spectacular. With the addition of percussion from their previous appearance they delivered 2 mesmerising sets and held everyone captive for both sets, well almost both. (There was a Carlsberg moment that was very funny and the band did well to continue with the song) The make up of Cello, Violin, Piano and percussion which are perfectly complemented with lovely harmonies help Pine the Pilcrow stand out as truly unique and original. Hard working musicians who work hard at their craft and are looking forward to a busy year touring and playing the top festivals. Great guests, great people, Great night. Thank you.

Our visiting Bard on the night travelled all the way from Bailieborough, Mairead Donnelan who is no stranger to the CO Club recited a selection of her poems and left a lasting impression on everyone lucky enough to be there. A great guest who relished the opportunity to be our poet for the evening she left no stone unturned in her preparation and recited a poem showing her appreciation to the art of bread making which was a lovely nod to our artist on the night who was a baker. Mairead's poems are full of imagery and while the poem itself may not be remembered verbatim the wonderful imagery is stored in the memory vault. She is a kind and spirited poet and her ability to put extra meaning to everyday acts like making a bed, baking a cake or even the lovely idea of singing a lullaby to someone who needs it shows how special and important she is to us. Mairead is a member of the Lit Lab writers group in Bailieborough and one of the organisers of a similar evening to the CO Club called The Open Door Sessions held on second last Friday of the month, or the Friday before the CO Club.

Fresh from a busy pre Christmas schedule touring Europe The wonderful Inni-K had her first Irish outing of the year at the January CO Club. Treating us to some of her old and new songs Inni-K also sang a couple of Scottish songs sung in the lovely Gaelic tongue of our near neighbours. A native Irish speaker Inni-K aka Eithne Ní Chatháin was a lovely guest who exemplified all that is great about the wonderfully strong music scene we have in this little country, her genuine niceness and affectionate and appreciative manner with the audience was infectious and everybody felt privileged to be in her company. What a lovely way to start the CO Club Year. Thank you Inni - K for making our evening so special.

The Arts council vision for the arts over the next number of years, some valuable information for artists. https://m.facebook.com/artscouncilireland/

Have a listen to Inni-K and Pine The Pilcrow to get into the mood for The CO Club Friday. Its going to be a great start to another CO Club Year.

Don’t miss #TheCOClub next Friday night. Great music, poetry and chat. Inni-K Pine The Pilcrow. See you there!

Something to consider for all artists. Here is some information on a well recognised Art Competition in Donegal, get your application in early and best of luck.

For the December CO Club We were gifted to an evening of friendships coming together and enjoying each others company. Pearly - Saramai and Cormac O' Keeffe headlining as Pearly were instrumental in organising a few gifted friends to join them and help make the Last CO Club of 2017 such a special night. The evening had everything needed including a good layer of snow to make this CO Club a real festive treat. Saramai and Cormac treated us to some of their new material and it is wonderful to see the creativity of this couple blossom into such a beautiful body of work with pure vocals and harmonies while also showing how both are gifted musicians. Local poet Peter Fallon of The Gallery Press who is a great Friend of Saramai and Cormac read some of his poems and told some great stories. Peter and Saramai's brother Oisin of The Lost Brothers have worked together on different projects and Oisin has delicately crafted Peters poem 'Go' to song. To start Peters set he recited GO and then Cormac and Saramai performed it to Oisins composition. This was one of the moments at the CO Club where you just know we are witnessing something special. As a wonderful complement to the music and poetry we were lucky to have award winning Kells film maker Mark Smith with us to discuss his work and we were treated to a short clip from his award winning sci fi short film "Leap of Faith" which has been very successful on the film festival circuit. Mark is passionate about what he does and it is hard not to be in awe of someone who absolutely loves what they do. Mark discussed the making of his films and how its an all hands on deck affair from family and friends when he is looking for help or venues to film. Mark was lucky to win a competition ran by IMRO the prize was to have music composed and performed for the film. In Leap of faith the music has been scored by Darren Hendley and recorded by the RTE concert orchestra. The music plays a significant part in the suspense created in the film and Mark explained the tweaks that had to be made before both composer and director were happy. Mark is a very articulate guy and it was easy to see that nothing is left to chance with his approach to his art. We look forward to welcoming him back to the CO Club sometime with a gold statute, but first we will have to get to see his first full movie which he tells us will be ready in the next 2 years.... We are working on 2018 and it is lining up to be another great year so dont forget to mark your calendar for the last Friday of the month.