Magnolia Electric Co.

Jason Molina
Molina performing with Magnolia Electric Co. in Brooklyn, New York City, 2009
Background information
Birth name	Jason Andrew Molina
Born	(1973-12-30)December 30, 1973 Oberlin, Ohio, U.S.
Died	March 16, 2013(2013-03-16) (aged 39) Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Genres	Indie rock alternative country lo-fi slowcore
Instruments	Vocals guitar bass
Years active	1995–2009
Labels	Secretly Canadian
Website	songsohia.com

Jason Andrew Molina (December 30, 1973 – March 16, 2013) was an American musician and singer-songwriter. Raised in northern Ohio, he came to prominence performing and recording as Songs: Ohia, both in solo projects and with a rotating cast of musicians in the late 1990s. Beginning in 2003, he would garner a further indie following for his releases with the band Magnolia Electric Co..

Molina had a prolific career between his two musical projects and solo releases, producing a total of sixteen studio albums, eight EPs, and numerous singles. His overall discography was noted by critics for blending elements of indie rock, blues, and alternative country with his tenor vocal range.

In 2009, Molina canceled a tour with Magnolia Electric Co., citing health problems as the reason. He would spend the next four years dealing with alcoholism, which ultimately resulted in his death from multiple organ failure in March 2013.

Molina was born December 30, 1973 in Oberlin, Ohio. His father was a middle school teacher. He had one brother, Aaron, and one sister, Ashley. Molina was raised in Lorain, a suburb of Cleveland, and grew up in a single-wide trailer home on Lake Erie. He began playing guitar at age ten.

Molina attended Oberlin College, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1996. After playing bass guitar in various heavy metal bands in and around Cleveland, Molina made the decision to become a solo artist under an assumed band name, recruiting other musicians for each individual project as needed. He made several home recordings under various names, including Songs: Albian, Songs: Radix, and Songs: Unitas, which he distributed himself at live performances.

Songs: Ohia was largely a project of revolving musicians with singer-songwriter Jason Molina as its center and sole stable member. Critics and fans alike have found considerable difficulty in trying to define the band's changing sound, usually settling on more general labels such as indie rock, lo-fi, folk or alt-country. The second part of the name is an allusion to both the Hawaiian tree 'Ōhi'a lehua and Molina's home state of Ohio.