Transmissions From The Molinaverse - May 6th
A regular update on all things JM
Photograph by Christopher Dilts
Hi everyone,
Hope all is well with you all.
We’re back with a digest of some interesting things from the world of Molina that have caught our attention over the last few weeks.
In this edition we have some new music and podcast recommendations, a live tribute album & conversation featuring Songs: Ohia’s Dan Sullivan, a great performance of an unreleased track and a contribution from Molina fan, comedian and podcaster John Robins to get stuck into.
As always we hope you enjoy reading through this and going a bit deeper on some of these recommendations. We would still love to receive more contributions to S&D via Molina@secretlycanadian.com, so if you’d like to be featured here or to share your thoughts, reflections, music or stories with thousands of like-minded Molina fans, then please do give us a shout.
All the best,
S&D x
John Robins on Bonnie “Prince” Billy / How Do You Cope
British comedian, broadcaster and Molina fan John Robins (as you may recognise as the person who gave MECo its possible primetime UK television debut on Taskmaster) has recently launched a fantastic podcast called ‘How Do You Cope’ which features guests sitting down for intimate, candid and empathetic conversations about how they have overcome mental and physical hurdles in navigating their daily lives.
As Robins is a fellow Molina fan interviewing an artist so closely associated to Jason’s work, we thought some of you might find something really helpful and meaningful here.
We are hugely grateful to John for taking the time to send S&D some thoughts on the interview and what connects us so deeply to the music of artists like Molina and Oldham.
Over to John…
One thing I had to wrestle with while researching the interview was who it was I was interviewing. Was it Will Oldham or was it Bonnie "Prince" Billy? The name with whom I had had a parasocial, or perhaps paramusical, relationship for over a quarter of a century. And as my dedication to the cause of this music deepened over the years, so did the guises under which I had met this force. Was it Palace Music, Palace Brothers or Palace? Was it Bonnie Billy or Bonny Billy or Bonnie 'Blue' Billy? Was it one half, third, quarter or fifth of any number of the vast array of collaborations and guest appearances the full number of which might never be counted. Could it even be an Amalgamated Son Of Rest?!
I came to understand what Bonnie "Prince" Billy is - it is a place where we and Will can meet without meeting. Very much like seeing an actor in a play. We meet what they bring to the role, but the role is what we meet. And there is such freedom in that, both for the artist and the audience.
So to speak with Will, Will who's mum lived with dementia for over ten years, Will who's dad had a heart attack whilst riding a bike, Will who's main care support worker died on his mothers driveway during the most difficult period of his life - well, it was a very great honour for me. And to listen to a man of such humanity speaking with candour about his experiences is something I'll never forget. Because isn't that what we love about Will, and Bonnie, and Molina, and any number of musicians who give us such familiar feelings with such unfamiliar words? We love the sheer humanity of them! I love that I can know exactly what a Bonnie "Prince" Billy song means whilst also having absolutely no idea what it means - no more on the hundredth listen than the first. In that strangeness and familiarity dances the bonnie prince! (Looking a hell of a lot like Will Oldham)
I do hope you enjoy the two episodes I recorded with Will. Not just for his account of his personal struggles, but for his profound words on the impact technology has on our human experience of music and community. He spoke about how technology claims to make things easier, how algorithms do so much work for us, but in that efficiency we are being denied difficulty and work that make living rich and varied and curious and unexpected.
You can listen to ‘How Do You Cope’ here
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The Archive Tapes - Mysterious Euro Studio Recording
We kicked off a new bunch of recordings on The Archive Tapes last week with a gorgeous early recording of ‘Leave The City’ from a session that features some demo’s, some extended jams and some really interesting ideas and early versions.
The CD says Belgium / January 2003 but however, with thanks to Magnolia’s Pete Schreiner, we can confirm it was in fact recorded in the Netherlands in April of that year.
We’re really excited to share more on this tape and, hopefully, the story behind it.
Check out The Archive Tapes here:
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Recommended Listening
Colin Miller
We’ve been listening to Asheville, North Carolina based musician & MJ Lenderman collaborator Colin Miller a lot recently and think a lot of you may find something to love here.
The Line of Best Fit recently published a great piece on his new record here: https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/features/interviews/colin-miller-finding-inspiration-home
Check out Colin’s new album, out on Mtn Laurel Recording Co., on Bandcamp here:
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Burst & Bloom Podcast w/ Dan Sullivan
Songs: Ohia’s Dan Sullivan recently spoke to the Burst & Bloom podcast about his performance of The Magnolia Electric Co. with the band Tigers Saw & friends at the end of 2024.
From the podcast:
In 2024, Dan joined Tiger Saw to perform that album in its entirety in Kittery, ME, along with several other guest musicians and singers.
Burst & Bloom released a CD of the show in 2025, so we look back at the show and talk about the albums, the concert, and Dan's new Nad Navillus music.
We listen to the songs:
• "Farewell Transmission" featuring Justin Carloni
• "The Old Black Hen" featuring Chris Côté
• "The Big Game is Every Night" featuring Dan Sullivan
• "Almost is Good Enough"
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Songs: Ohia - 27th April - Empty Bottle, Chicago
From the always incredible resource of the Songs: Ohia video archive on Youtube, we have a performance of ‘Wide Awake’ from the Empty Bottle in Chicago on 27th April 2000.
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MECo at Bash’s Lubbock Texas, 2009
OTD: May 4th, 2009.
Magnolia Electric Co. At Bash’s in Lubbock, Texas ⚡️
Poster by Dirk Fowler.