Songs: Ohia was the recording project of American singer-songwriter Jason Molina (1973–2013), launched in 1996 and a cornerstone of indie folk and slowcore. The Magnolia Electric Co. (2003), recorded with Steve Albini and a full band, and the haunted Didn't It Rain (2002) are the ones to reach for first. Explore Songs: Ohia vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Jason Molina was born in Lorain, Ohio on December 30, 1973. He launched the Songs: Ohia project in 1996 while attending Oberlin College. The project was named for the Hawaiian ohia tree. He signed with Secretly Canadian Records in 1997 (inaugural Secretly Canadian artist), releasing the self-titled debut Songs: Ohia that year. Across the catalog from 1996-2003, the project built a cult following in the contemporary American indie folk and slowcore scenes. His 2003 album The Magnolia Electric Co. - produced by Steve Albini at Electrical Audio in Chicago, featuring a full band backing - established the transition from solo project to band format. Molina renamed the project to Magnolia Electric Co. starting in 2003 and released subsequent material under that name. He struggled with alcoholism across the 2000s, with declining health and recording output. He died of organ failure related to alcoholism on March 16, 2013 at age 39 in Indianapolis, Indiana. His foundational influence on contemporary American indie folk, slowcore, and alt-country is widely cited.
Songs: Ohia's sound combines indie folk, slowcore, alt-country, lo-fi indie, indie rock, Americana, and singer-songwriter with Molina's distinctive vocal delivery (use of intimate, haunted phrasing), atmospheric arrangements, and lyrical content addressing mortality, mental illness, romance, and confessional Ohio-rooted themes drawing on classic Bob Dylan and Neil Young singer-songwriter traditions.
Original Secretly Canadian Records pressings of the Songs: Ohia catalog are foundational items in contemporary indie folk and slowcore collecting, with collector premiums on rare pressings. Multiple anniversary editions (particularly the 10th anniversary edition of The Magnolia Electric Co.) have been.
Listeners new to Songs: Ohia typically start with The Magnolia Electric Co. (2003) or Didn't It Rain (2002).
