Jim Lawson
1957-2024
In 2018, Jim was faced with many serious health issues, including a brain bleed due to an arteriovenous malformation on one side of his brain. During diagnosis he suffered a major stroke on the other side of his brain, leaving him unable to walk or talk. While in the hospital he developed a near-fatal case of c.diff, and also status epilepticus. He miraculously survived all this, and fought his way back to almost 100%. Then in 2022 he was diagnosed with inoperable liver cancer, which he fought valiantly and without complaint until the end.
"Bluesy, jazzy, and rock-solid!"
~Mr. Rhythm Man, WNKU
"Expert chops. Smooth, groove-based arrangements."
~ Mike Breen, CityBeat
Between the five members of the Moxie Band, there are more than 200 years combined experience playing music. A brief history of the group would begin in 1990, when vocalist Donna Moxness and guitarist Jim Lawson co-founded the short-lived eight-piece Moxie & The Match Boys. Fourteen years later in 2004, Jim was downtown and bumped into Larry Bloomfield, the group’s harmonica player. Jim, Larry and Donna resurrected the band as a smaller group with the amazing rhythm section of Mike Barrett and Gus Thierry.
A few years of sporadic gigging followed. Life’s responsibilities and other musical projects postponed the release of the band’s first cd for 10 years, but Eminent Domain was officially released in December 2014. In 2018 guitarist Jim Lawson experienced a convulsive seizure due to a rare brain condition. There were many complications including a serious stroke which knocked out his entire left side. He could not walk, form a sentence, or add 2 plus 2. After 100 days in the hospital, a procedure to fix the condition in his brain, and months of physical, occupational and speech therapy, he miraculously recovered. And, he regained his ability to play guitar.
Then the pandemic came and everything came to a halt again. In 2021 the band recorded and released "Keep Cool."
Sadly, 2022 brought a diagnosis of inoperable liver cancer. Jim left this world February 11, 2024.