Songs: Ohia
| Jason Molina | |
|---|---|
Magnolia Electric Co. in Stockholm 2005; Jason Molina to the left
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jason Andrew Molina |
| Born |
December 30, 1973 Lorain, Ohio |
| Origin | United States |
| Died | March 16, 2013 (aged 39) Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Genres | Indie rock, alternative country, lo-fi |
| 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, originally from Lorain, Ohio. He came to prominence performing and recording as Songs: Ohia, both in solo projects and with a rotating cast of musicians. Since 2003, he recorded either under his own name or with a stable lineup of band members as the Magnolia Electric Co.
Molina was born in Lorain, Ohio and attended Oberlin College. 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.
Molina's first release under the Songs: Ohia moniker came in 1996 as a single on Palace Records, Nor Cease Thou Never Now. This was followed by the 1997 full-length album, Songs: Ohia (known among fans as the Black Album), released on the Bloomington, Indiana-based label Secretly Canadian.
In 2000 Molina released three albums: The Lioness which was recorded in Glasgow by producer Andy Miller with help from Alasdair Roberts and members of Arab Strap, Ghost Tropic, recorded by Mike Mogis, and Protection Spells, a solo album which was sold at live shows and is now out of print. By 2000, Molina had given his tenor guitar a rest in favor of a regular six-string electric guitar and put together a full band to back him, including brothers Rob and Dan Sullivan on bass and guitar, Jeff Panall on drums, and Jim Grabowski on organ. In the same year the touring band also recorded a live album near Modena, Italy, which was released locally in 2001 as Mi Sei Apparso Come Un Fantasma.
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