Moo-Town Productions: News

Click on the Music button in the Destinations column to your left to listen to excerpts from Jym's new CD.

For those of you who don't want to wait for the CD release concert in February, Jym's new CD is now available on-line at CD Baby. Click on the Buy link in the Destinations column to your left for more info.

My high school music teacher, John Sutte, died on Christmas Day 2007. John's music classes were creative laboratories for aspiring performers. We spent every class hour jamming in classrooms and hallways, learning to play with other musicians and sharpening our own skills. John helped us put on concerts at the school and produced an LP featuring several of his students in 1975. On a personal note, he slipped me albums from his own collection that helped expand my musical ear (he very carefully warned me not to tell anyone who had loaned me the Mothers of Invention album!). The experience I got as a performer with John's guidance set me well on the way to who I am today. Sadly, I was not able to share with John the fruits of the seeds he planted so long ago. He suffered a catastrophic stroke over 20 years ago, and was confined to a nursing home for the rest of his life. I lost track of his whereabouts, and I regret not being able to keep in touch with him over the years. He was an inspiring teacher with a wacky sense of humor and a genuine love of music, and he shared those things with the lucky ones who were able to be his students. I salute his life and his work.
Good night, Mr. Sutte.
Jym

Moxie Chicks songwriter/guitarist Jym Mooney will release his first new solo album since 1999 with a special concert on Feb. 2, 2008 at The Coffee House. "Mooney Tunes and Maynard Melodies" collects over a dozen songs Jym has written over the years celebrating the lives and quirks of his large family. Many wonderful Milwaukee musicians joined Jym in the studio to create this highly personal and whimsical CD, including Craig Siemsen, David Fox, Jerry Danks, Sandy Stehling & Ruth Williams, Barb & Tom Webber, Larry Penn, Brett Kemnitz, and, of course, the Moxie Chicks. Special guests on the CD include Jym's nieces and nephews Grace, Seth, Jimmy, and Hannah, and his granddaughter Kara. The talented and delightful Francesca, who contributed a specially written song to the project, will open the concert. Mark your calendars now for this very special event! (You can see the cover art for this CD on our Photos page.)

Our sincere congratulations and best wishes go out to Evan Christian, winner of the Best Acoustic Musician category in the Shepherd Express Best of Milwaukee Reader's Poll. And our heartfelt thanks go out to all of you whose votes put us among the top three finalists. You folks are the best!

Tonight's concert at The Coffee House has been cancelled due to the winter storm and severe road conditions predicted for the evening. We apologize to everyone, and hope to reschedule later this season for The Coffee House.

We learned yesterday that your votes helped land the Moxie Chicks in the top three of the Shepherd Express Best of Milwaukee Reader's Poll for Best Acoustic Musicians. Wow! We are honored by your support! The final winner will be announced on December 4th at a fund-raising event for the Hunger Task Force (details at www.shepherd-express.com).

Jym has launched his own MySpace page, in preparation for the release of his new solo CD in early 2008. Come on by and sign up on his Friends list, so you'll get all the news on this exciting project when it happens. Just click here: http://www.myspace.com/jymmooney

Tonight Wisconsin Public Radio's Simply Folk aired highlights from The Coffee House's 40th Anniversary Concert recorded last May. After playing Jym and Carol's set, host Tom Martin-Erickson commented, "I wish you could have seen Jym's shirt that night. Well, you didn't really have to see it, you could HEAR it! It was the wildest Hawaiian shirt I've ever seen." Thanks for the fine compliment, Tom! (And thanks to John and Sue Hrobar, who gave me that shirt for my birthday!)

This week Jym joined Tom Webber and Brett Kemnitz to record some backing vocals for a track on Larry Penn's upcoming CD, which will feature songs about working people in wartime. It's always a pleasure working with Larry!

The Shepherd Express is running its annual Best Of Milwaukee reader's poll now through September 19th. You can vote for your favorite restaurants, politicians, clubs, stores, etc. In the Arts & Entertainment section you can vote for your favorite Acoustic Musician (that's spelled M-O-X-I-E C-H-I-C-K-S).

You can vote by filling out the paper ballot available in your weekly Shepherd Express, or you can vote on-line at http://www.shepherd-express.com/115447.113121body.lasso
One vote per person, please. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't encourage all of your friends to join the vote, of course! Thanks for your support!

Jym sang his tribute to the late Socialist Milwaukee mayor Frank Zeidler this afternoon at the 110th Anniversary Picnic of the Wisconsin Socialist Party. "Frank Said" was greeted with enthusiastic applause from the attendees.

Dirty Linen, the nationally distributed folk and world music magazine, gave Cross Me, Fool! a positive review in their latest (August/September 2007) issue. Thanks for the support, Dirty Linen!

The Moxie Chicks have a page set up on MySpace, and we invite you to visit us there to listen to our music and discover our "friends." Come on over and join us! If you are already a MySpace participant, just do a search for Moxie Chicks, or else just click here: http://www.myspace.com/themoxiechicks

Radio host Dr. Demento played Jym's song "Murphy (The Three-Legged Beer Swillin' Hound)" this past weekend on his nationally syndicated show. This is the third time the good doctor has aired "Murphy."

Jym's song "Frank Said," recorded live at The Coffee House's 40th Anniversary Concert, is now available for listening or downloading. Just go to our music page by clicking on Music in the Destinations column to your left.

Photographer George Lottermoser took lots of wonderful photos at The Coffee House's 40th Anniversary Concert. You can view a slideshow at this link: http://www.imagist.com/coffee_house

Well over 135 people packed into The Coffee House last Saturday night to celebrate 40 years of folk music and volunteer activism. The performers sang old favorites from the 60s and new songs, and a marvelous time was had by all. WorkingWriter mentioned Jym's performance in his blog: "Agnes Zeidler, lifelong companion of the late Mayor, was honored for her role in getting The Coffee House started back in the day. She attended with friends and several family members, and was able to stay for Jym Mooney's fabulous tribute to Frank Zeidler, which starts out with a lyric something like this: 'He was a politician / and he was an honest man / a combination rare to find these days.' The Zeidlers were not the only ones moved." You can read the entire review at http://www.onmilwaukee.com/myOMC/blog/show/579

Please visit our links page to go to a website where names are being collected to get Pete Seeger nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. I can't think of anyone more deserving of such an honor for his life's work.

Due to a scheduling conflict at the Urban Ecology Center, our Friday Fire performance has been rescheduled for September 21st. We apologize for any inconvenience or confusion this might cause.

It has just come to our attention that our music has been aired on WMSE's Female Focus program. Thanks, WMSE! You can listen to WMSE in Milwaukee on 91.7 FM, or hear them on-line at www.wmse.org

Wisconsin Public Radio's Simply Folk played two songs from our new CD on tonight's show. Host Tom Martin-Erickson plugged our upcoming Sherman Perk concert and played "Cross Me, Fool" and "Last Call." Simply Folk airs every Sunday evening from 5 until 8 p.m. on stations across Wisconsin. You can listen to a web simulcast by visiting http://www.wpr.org/simplyfolk/index.cfm, where you can also send in requests for more Moxie Chicks songs!

Tonight the Moxie Chicks had the honor of recording a track for a planned CD from Larry Penn. The CD's theme will be working people in wartime, and Larry asked us to record "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp," an old barracks ballad from the Women's Army Air Corps in WWII. Larry sat beaming beatifically as Carol, Jonnie, and Chris harmonized and improvized in the studio. Thanks for asking us to help, Larry!

Thanks to all of our friends, family, and fans who helped make our CD release concert such a rousing success! We packed about 100 people into The Coffee House, and they responded enthusiastically as we performed our new CD in its entirety, then did a second set of audience favorites. Jym's brother Chris Mooney joined us on upright bass for the whole first set, and did a stand-up job! Our engineer Jonathon Leubner also joined us, playing percussion on Genesis And Revelation . Lots of people went home with copies of our CD in hand (some with multiple copies...do that holiday shopping early, you know!). The Moxie Chicks are so grateful for such loyal, supportive, and PATIENT fans! Thank you all!

You can purchase Cross Me, Fool! on-line from those wonderful folks at CDBaby! Follow the link on the Buy page on the navigation bar to your left, or go directly to http://cdbaby.com/cd/moxiechicks