Album Notes

This exciting CD brings together two vibrant live sets (plus two bonus tracks) by Milwaukee songwriter Jym Mooney. Recorded in 2009 and in 1981, these performances showcase Jym’s widely-appreciated songwriting craftsmanship and fine eye for the human detail. There are songs of love (“Do Us Both a Favor”) and loss (“House of Cards”), character sketches (“She’s a Mirror”), and topical songs: “Down in New Orleans” (co-written with Carol Lee Hopkins) looks at the pain of the homeless from a very personal point of view, and “Sisters” celebrates the imagination and courage of a group of young people in the terrible aftermath of 9/11. Of course, Jym’s ability to draw a smile and a chuckle is well-evident, with songs like “Springtime in Ohio,” “Mud Wrestling Queen,” and “Chocolate Chip Cookies.” "LIVE…now and then" also features the CD debut of the infamous “Reagan Time,” a Brett Kemnitz song that the late Dick Nitelinger, then host of WMSE’s Folk City program, called “a regional classic that became an anthem for the decade.” Three songs that Jym wrote for the Moxie Chicks, the band that he and his wife Carol Lee Hopkins have performed in for the past nine years, are featured here performed by the author for the first time on CD.

Jym Mooney has been a mainstay of the Milwaukee folk music scene for over 30 years, both as a solo artist and as a member of the popular group The Moxie Chicks (who were voted into the top three in the Best Acoustic Musicians category in the Shepherd Express Best of Milwaukee 2007 Readers Poll). Jym’s delightful, well-crafted songs have earned him respect and admiration from his peers. His powerful anti-war song “I Have Come to Take My Boy Home” has been performed, recorded, and posted on websites and blogs internationally. On the other hand, his drily hilarious song “Murphy,” about a “three-legged, beer-swillin’ hound,” has aired multiple times on the nationally syndicated Dr. Demento Show.

"Mooney's amiable ways connect with the folks in the audience. The broad, goofy wit of his funny numbers may make the easiest connection, but 'Live' testifies to his array of strengths. He can ply his genre's tradition of singing mini-travelogues or deliver an unexpectedly poignant 9/11 memory with suitable sensitivity. Some of Mooney's love songs could even pass muster amid commercial country music's glitz."
Jamie Lee Rake - Shepherd Express (Feb 25, 2010)