In September, Magnolia and Johnson Electric Co. will pay tribute to their work with the late Jason Molina and release a 7” single of ‘Wooden Heart’ b/w ‘Twenty Cycles To The Ground’, as well as perform four shows in Texas.
Will Johnson is the Texas songwriter in Centro-matic, South San Gabriel, and a current member of the 400 Unit with Jason Isbell. Johnson released his 10th solo album “Diamond City” in April 2025 and was part of the 2009 collaborative album “Molina and Johnson”, a record for which a tour was cancelled due to Molina’s struggles with alcohol.
Magnolia and Johnson Electric Co. (featuring Will Johnson along with original Magnolia Electric Co. members Mike Brenner, Jason Evans Groth, Michael Kapinus, Mark Rice, and Pete Schreiner) convened in Texas earlier this year to record new studio versions of both Molina’s and Johnson’s songs, much in the vein of the 2018 Goshen Electric Company collaboration between Magnolia and Tim Showalter of Strand of Oaks. That collaboration, billed as Songs Molina, played a memorable show at London’s Bush Hall in 2018
The sessions were recorded and mixed by Johnson’s longtime collaborator Britton Beisenherz and mastered by Magnolia mastering engineer Matthew Barnhart. Artwork is by Will Schaff graces the cover, whose artwork has now been inextricably linked to Jason Molina’s songwriting.
Magnolia and Johnson Electric Co have shared a roaring version of ‘The Big Beast’ which you can enjoy below.
