Moo-Town Productions: News

Our new CD has already started to receive some airplay, debuting last night on Calamity Jane's Cafe Vaquera on KMUN in Astoria, Oregon. Cafe Vaquera airs every Tuesday evening from 9 to 11 p.m. Pacific Time, and can be heard in a live webcast at www.coastradio.org

Click on Photos in the Destinations column to your left and you can see the cover of our soon-to-be-released CD. The package was designed by Jon Baade, using handmade paper designed by Mary Lou Mooney (Jym's mom!).

Yes, our debut CD is finally finished, and today we shipped it off to the manufacturer! So mark your calendars now for Saturday, November 4th, when we will have our big CD release celebration at The Coffee House. We will perform the CD in its entirety, as well as some of your other favorite songs. Bring your friends, bring your family, we're all going to have a wonderful time together! We are delighted with our finished CD, and we think that you will be, too! Visit our Calendar page for details on the concert.

We are excited to announce the release of "I Am Clay," a 30-minute documentary for educators and parents that explores the power of natural clay in early childhood development. Produced and directed by Kathleen Bailer for K-Play, this captivating and entertaining film features Linda Beck's recording of her song "La Tierra Misma (The Same Ball Of Clay)" from the CD "One Ball Of Clay - Songs Of Peace And Hope," produced by Jym and Carol. The film is available on DVD and VHS at www.k-play.com

If you weren't one of the lucky people to hear the Moxie Chicks today at the Fox Point Farmer's Market, you missed a great show! For the first time in over a year, the whole band was healthy and on stage, including Carol, who is recovering rapidly from her recent heart surgery. Check out our calendar page for future dates where we hope that we'll be seeing you!

Carol Lee is recovering nicely from open heart surgery which was performed on Friday, May 26th. They had to replace a heart valve that had been damaged by a bacterial infection. She is already out of the Intensive Care Unit and back on a regular floor, and hopes to be coming home in a week or so. We thank all of our friends and fans for their prayers, love, and support for Carol during this challenging time. She'll be back singing with the Moxies as soon as possible.

In late-breaking news, La Taza has changed hands recently and they are discontinuing live music, so our June 24th concert there has been cancelled.

Last night the Moxies went into the studio to record Carol's song "Running Circles." We were joined by special guest Joseph T. Ruback on mountain dulcimer. This is the final song for our CD. We still have some tweaking to do, but the basic recording is now completed. Watch this space for more news!

Tonight the Moxie Chicks were delighted to bring their friend Patty Stevenson into the studio to add her well-known delicate touch on keyboard to Jonnie's song "If You Knew Who Walked Beside You."

Today is the 90th anniversary of Boston's Great Molasses Flood, which saw 21 people dead and over 150 more injured when a giant tank of molasses (destined for rum) burst and cascaded through the heart of the city. Tom Martin-Erickson, host of Wisconsin Public Radio's Simply Folk program, commemorated the event by playing Jym's song "Molasses" on tonight's show. This recording, from Jym's CD East Side Guy, features first class backing by Lil' Rev, Dave Fox, and Brennan Cornwell.

At tonight's Coffee House concert, the Moxie Chicks welcomed guitarist Jym Mooney back to the line-up. Jym played 12-string guitar with the group for two songs, his first performance with the Moxies since his February accident. It won't be long now before he will be back full-time, and work will begin on the final phase of our CD. Stay tuned!

Last night Carol and Jym made a surprise guest appearance at Sandy Stehling and Ruth Williams' annual "Friends" concert at The Coffee House in Milwaukee. In addition to announced guests John Granzow, Dodgeville's Scott Stieber, and Jim Meyers (of the Men Of Constant Sorrow), the enthusiastic audience was treated to backing vocals on several songs by Carol and Jym. This concert marked Jym's first stage appearance since his injury last winter.

Last night the Moxie Chicks returned to the studio to record basic tracks for another song for our long-awaited CD. We recorded the vocals and Jon's guitar part for Jonnie's lovely song "If You Knew Who Walked Beside You." Jym, although still sidelined by his arm injury (he had successful surgery two weeks ago, when a titanium rod was implanted in his arm to hold the bone together), assisted with thoughtful advice and encouragement throughout the session.

Word has reached us that Jym's song "I Have Come To Take My Boy Home" was sung last night in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, at a candlelight vigil held in support of Cindy Sheehan, the mother leading the Camp Casey anti-war encampment in Crawford, Texas.

The good news is, the Moxie Chicks been keeping busy this summer, playing outdoor events and private gatherings, making new friends and catching up with old ones! But the not so good news is, Jym's arm is not healing as quickly as had been hoped. His doctor is applying some new techniques to stimulate bone growth, but progress is slow. Jonnie has been playing guitar in the interim, but looks forward to the day when Jym can return full-time to the band (as do we all). As a result, our not-quite-finished CD remains on the back burner. We will keep everyone posted on project news as we know it. Until then, we look forward to seeing you at a show sometime soon!

At our Coffee House show tonight (and if you missed it, you missed a lot of fun!), we were asked, "What songs are going to be on the CD you're working on?" Good question! The songs, in no particular order, are as follows: Genesis And Revelations (Chris Straw), Take My Time (Jym Mooney-Carol Lee Hopkins), Finding Your Way To Love (Straw), Must Be Love (Craig Siemsen), Like A Moth To A Flame (Mooney), Running Circles (Hopkins), If You Knew Who Walked Beside You (Jonnie Guernsey), Cross Me, Fool! (Straw), I Have Come To Take My Boy Home (Mooney), Last Call (Julie Kane), Down In New Orleans (Hopkins-Mooney), Wash Away/Talk About Suffering (Straw/traditional), Let Peace Prevail (Margaret Nelson), and Springtime In Ohio (Mooney). Stay tuned for more information as work continues on this exciting project!

We've just added a bonus track to our Music page that is available nowhere else. It is the original 1985 recording of Jym's song "Blues For Stevie," featuring a full rock band arrangement with the Kanieski family.

You can now listen to brief excerpts from several songs from Jym's CD East Side Guy. Just visit our Music page!

Tonight Jym joined Brett Kemnitz and Craig Siemsen in the recording studio to add backing vocals to Larry Penn's new recording of Larry's song "The Edmund Fitzgerald." Larry has done background vocals on Jym's song "Murphy" on East Side Guy as well as on a track for the upcoming Moxie Chicks CD, and Jym was honored to be able to return the favor.

Yesterday fiddler Ben Sanders and Moxie Chicks lead guitarist Jon Pagenkopf were in the studio recording overdubs on "I Have Come To Take My Boy Home." Ben is the current Wisconsin State Champion fiddler (for the second year running), and his bluegrass trio Superstarr just won the annual Mid-Winter Talent Contest at The Coffee House. Ben is the son of Sweet Diversity's Carrie Sanders.

You can now hear short samples of several songs from One Ball Of Clay simply by visiting our Music page. Also available is the complete MP3 of Jym's recording of "I Have Come To Take My Boy Home."

Folks have been asking us about progress on the Moxie Chicks CD, especially in light of Jym's recent accident (as many of you already know, he slipped on an icy sidewalk last month and broke his right arm). The good news is that work continues on this project. We already had the basic tracks for 12 out of 14 songs recorded before the accident. While Jym's arm heals we will complete overdubs on the existing tracks (yesterday Jym's brother, Chris Mooney, came up from Illinois to record bass tracks for three songs). Never fear, we will have our CD in your hands this year! Thanks for your interest and patience.

We are delighted to bring you our new and improved website. We’ll keep you posted on all the Moxie Chicks news, including gigs and developing news on our forthcoming CD. Among the new features on this site are a Guestbook (let us hear from you!) and the ability for you to sign up for our email list right on the website.