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We are deeply saddened to announce that Jason Andrew Molina passed away in his home in Indianapolis this past Saturday, March 16th of natural causes at age 39. Jason was a world class musician, songwriter & recording artist. He was also a beloved friend. He first caught international attention in 1996 when he began releasing albums under the name Songs: Ohia. In 2003 he started the band Magnolia Electric Co. Between those two bands he released over a dozen critically-acclaimed albums and, starting in 1997, he toured the world every year until he had to stop in 2009 to deal with severe alcoholism. Jason was incredibly humbled by his fans’ support through the years and said that the two most important words he could ever say are “Thank you.”
This is especially hard for us to share. Jason is the cornerstone of Secretly Canadian. Without him there would be no us – plain and simple. His singular, stirring body of work is the foundation upon which all else has been constructed. After hearing and falling in love with the mysterious voice on his debut single “Soul” in early 1996, we approached him about releasing a single on our newly formed label. For some reason he said yes. We drove from Indiana to New York to meet him in person, and he handed us what would become the first of many JMo master tapes. And with the Songs: Ohia One Pronunciation of Glory 7″ we were given a voice as a label. The subsequent self-titled debut was often referred to by fans as The Black Album. Each Songs: Ohia album to follow proved a new, haunting thesis statement from a prodigal songwriter whose voice and soul burned far beyond that of the average twenty-something. There was organ-laced, sepia-toned econimica (1998′s Impala) and charred-hearted, free form balladry (1999′s Axxess and Ace). There were the dark glacial make-out epics of 2000′s The Lioness and the jungle incantations of 2000′s Ghost Tropic. There was the career-defining agnostic’s gospel of 2002′s Didn’t It Rain, an album about setting roots that also seemed to offer solace to a world that had recently seen its bar on terror raised. It was followed in 2003 by a thrilling about-face, the instant classic Magnolia Electric Co., which took Jason’s songwriting to ’70s classic rock heights. The move was such a powerful moment for Molina that Magnolia Electric Co. became the new moniker under which he would perform until 2009. With Magnolia Electric Co., Jason found a brotherhood in his bandmates, with whom he built an incredible live experience and made a truly classic album in Josephine (2009).
We’re going to miss Jason. He was generous. He was a one of a kind. And he had a voice unlike any other.
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 2:22 pm Posts: 4377 Location: faked by jorge
no matter how dark the storm gets overhead they say someone's watching from the calm at the edge
what about us when we're down here in it we gotta watch our own backs
but if you do see that golden light that it shines in its fiery eye go on and catch it while you can go on and catch it if you can
let it course through you and let it burn through you if it's the light of truth if it's the light of truth
if they think you got it they're going to beat it out of you through work and debt whatever all else there is
you got to watch your own back try to see the light of goodness burning down the track
through the blinding rain through the swaying wires if i see you struggle i will not turn my back i've seen a good man and a bad man down the same path
i've seen the light of truth keeping out of it and told them to watch their own backs
if i see you struggle and givin all that you got i see you work all night burning your light to the last of its dim watts i'm gonna help you how i can if you see me struggle all night and give me a hand cause i'm in need i'll call you friend indeed but i'm going to watch my own back
didn't it rain
(bye, jason)
_________________
Dev wrote:
you're delusional. you are a sad sad person. fuck off. you're mentally ill beyond repair. i don't need your shit. dissapear.
Of course, even with all of his friends never leaving his side, he cashed out on Saturday night in Indianapolis with nothing but a cell phone in his pocket with only his grandmother’s number on it. Of course, she was the first to be dealt the tragic news.
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 7:41 am Posts: 19724 Location: Cumberland, RI
I never, ever get this way over celebrity/artists deaths, ever. I'm really shaken up, and I know this is a guy I never met. I actually had the chance, though. My fiancee (girlfriend at the time) saw Magnolia Electric Co. in Cambridge, MA in July of 2009. We got there wicked early, before either of the two openers took the stage. We walked into the Middle East Downstairs and as we made our way to the bar, I saw Jason in the back of the room just talking to some guy. I whispered to my girlfriend, "Do you know who that is?" Of course I had to explain. She said, "Go say, 'Hi!'" I said nah, that it would be rude to break up a conversation. I mean, for all of the two-hour show that night I was two and a half feet in front of him and all, but it would have met so much for me to just walk up to him and say, "Thanks for the tunes." I bought some merch after the show (an LP, a poster) and got to say what's up to Jason Groth, but J-Mo had disappeared by this point. I had tickets to see Molina & Johnson in I think January or February 2010, also at the Middle East, but that was, of course, cancelled. I always thought, even after we all found out that Jason wasn't well, that I'd see him at another show someday, even if it wasn't for a few years, and that this time I wouldn't be too bashful to say, "Thanks for the tunes." I think it's the finality of the whole thing that's getting to me now, that I won't be able to unwrap another brand-new LP and just turn off everything else in my life and let Jason's music just rattle my soul. I remember back in probably about 2006 when I downloaded this short EP by My Morning Jacket that had a weird title: "My Morning Jacket/Songs: Ohia." I only really wanted it for the first three MMJ tracks; at some point I let it keep playing, and that was the first time that I encountered the ten-minute monster called "Translation." I hunted down more of Jason's music over the next few weeks after getting "Magnolia Electric Co." and loving it. There was really no turning back at that point. The week after the news broke of Jason's poor health (around September 2011), I went on a trip to Belgium to present at a conference and, somehow, at a Belgian Nationalist bar at about 2:00AM, completely jet-lagged, I started talking to a Scottish colleague about Jason Molina. And he knew who he was! What a true, real moment of human connection that was; I have no idea how his name came up, but as soon as I said, "Jason Molina," this guy's whole attitude change. I mean, he just knew, damnit. We both agreed that we wanted him to get well, of course. There's a thing you should know about me and trips: I always buy a bunch of postcards, but I never sent them. I bought Jason a postcard, and I wrote him a message, which boiled down to: "Thanks for the tunes; get well soon." I never sent it. It's sitting in my apartment somewhere, maybe, or I threw it away with all the other postcards at some point. It fucking tears me up inside that I never sent it, now. Listening to Jason's records is going to be a terribly bittersweet experience from now on, I just know it. If you have any friends or relatives (I do) who have issues with drinking, please do talk to them, tell them how much you care about them, and if they're willing, try to get them some help. To paraphrase a bit, but this is what I've been thinking about all day: Jason Molina, dead at 39: that is fucking obscene.
I remember I was in Miami when it happened. I was posting from the balcony of my apartment overlooking the beach. And I was having an argument with Adamdude.
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