Jason Molina served as the solitary force behind Songs: Ohia, delivering songs on tenor guitar from his base along the Lake Erie coastline. Reviewers routinely linked the project to Palace and Will Oldham, yet although the sonic resemblance held especially in vocal tone, Molina's fervent and introspective writing aligned more closely with Neil Young or Leonard Cohen. Early Songs: Ohia material leaned toward minimal and austere arrangements, most clearly on the 1999 album Axxess & Ace and the 2000 release The Lioness, whose stripped-back sound matched the somber lyric themes. Subsequent records issued under the Songs: Ohia name, among them 2002's Didn't It Rain and 2003's Magnolia Electric Co., featured denser ensemble playing with marked country leanings, even while the words stayed equally bleak and confessional.
Born in Lorain, Ohio, Molina absorbed heavy doses of Black Sabbath during his formative years and launched his career on bass in Cleveland metal groups. An inveterate songwriter, he later chose to perform and record alone, drawing on supporting players only when required. He devised a distinctive guitar tuning suited to his voice and rooted in his bass background. After carving a place in indie circles, Molina issued home recordings under the aliases Songs: Albian, Songs: Radix, and Songs: Unitas for distribution at shows. Adopting the name Songs: Ohia, he placed a single on the Palace label in 1995. The project's debut full-length arrived in 1997 on Secretly Canadian and earned widespread praise. Songs: Ohia followed with further albums such as 1998's Impala and 1999's Axxess & Ace, plus assorted singles on American and European imprints, building a substantial audience across Europe, above all in Holland and Germany.
In 2000 Songs: Ohia issued The Lioness and Ghost Tropic, both featuring contributions from Alasdair Roberts of Appendix Out and Shane Aspegren of Lullaby for the Working Class; Ghost Tropic marked Molina's first experiments with global musical traditions. Following the limited tour-only Protection Spells, the group delivered its initial live album in late 2001. Capturing an Italian concert from the prior year, Mi Sei Apparso Come un Fantasma (You Come to Me as a Ghost) contained numerous previously unheard and untitled pieces. By then Molina had set aside the tenor guitar for a standard six-string and assembled a standing band. Nevertheless, 2002's Didn't It Rain paired him with members of the neo-bluegrass group Jim & Jennie & the Pinetops, yielding an almost gospel atmosphere far removed from Ghost Tropic's density.
While perpetually writing and tracking new material, Songs: Ohia released several singles and EPs in 2002, among them a split EP with Louisville's My Morning Jacket and a collaborative set issued as Amalgamated Sons of Rest alongside Will Oldham and Ali Roberts. Pyramid Electric Co. and Magnolia Electric Co., planned together as a double album, appeared separately in early 2003; the former emerged as a sparse solo effort recorded with Mike Mogis of Lullaby for the Working Class, whereas the latter featured a full band and was tracked by Steve Albini. Jason Molina battled alcoholism over many years, ultimately succumbing to organ failure in March 2013 at age 39. In 2018 the Songs: Ohia installment in Temporary Residence's Travels in Constants EP series was reissued and entered Billboard's Heatseekers chart. That same year The Lioness received an expanded reissue titled Love & Work: The Lioness Sessions, adding a full album of unreleased tracks from the era.
