Jym Mooney

Veteran Milwaukee folkie Jym Mooney isn't singing about Warner Brothers cartoons on his latest CD, as its title and artwork might imply. Instead, he has collected 14 songs about his family. It doesn't get much folkier than that, and Mooney has a way of welcoming a listener to his clan, even as that welcome includes a 19-verse song of introduction to everyone attending a family reunion. Elsewhere, and more seriously, Mooney confronts his father's errancy and alcoholism with vulnerable sensitivity. All that recollection and catharsis does, however, leave room for some mild yuks, be they derived from a drunken dog or a relative making the cover of a boat-building magazine. Though he's not aiming to be as prophetic or rebelliously chic as some folk singers, Mooney displays the simple wisdom of keeping family memories alive for posterity.