the “it’s made me cry” ep will be released digitally via itunes/emusic/etc on may 19th. as with the limited 7″, all proceeds will benefit the evan farrell memorial fund (click the link to donate!).

i’ve spoken with jason and while he’s happy to see all the business record store day 2009 brought to independent music retailers he was disappointed that so many fans were unable to obtain the 7″. he asks that rather than pay exhorbitant ebay prices (none of which will benefit evan’s family) you consider waiting for the digital release (which does).

the money you save will be better spent on the elaborate will schaff coffeetable book with the jason molina 10″ that is due out later this year on graveface records.

april 18th, 2009 marks the second annual independent record store day and this year magnolia electric co. will be in on the party with it’s made me cry, a new 7″ ep that was recorded last fall at russian recording before the u.s. tour (not to be confused with the  album they recorded at electrical audio after the tour, which now goes by the name of josephine).

the only substantial touring for the year starts next week with a handful of solo dates in england followed by two weeks of american full-band date next month.

after hitting the road this fall, magnolia electric co. will bunker down with steve albini in electrical audio to record their next album, tentatively titled ‘a map of the falling stars’. if all goes according to plan, it should see release sometime in 2009.

earlier this year jason molina (magnolia electric co.) and will johnson (centro-matic) got together to record an album. a few more details have rolled in and the word is that its due for release in early 2009 on secretly canadian after which the two hope to hit the road together.

the first shows of 2008 find jason molina collaborating with bachi da pietra for three completely improvised performances in italy. NOTE: tickets are extremely limited.

this was just passed along to me.

All of us are tremendously saddened by the sudden and tragic death of our good friend and collaborator, Evan Farrell. Evan, who played bass and pedal steel with us during our fall tour this year, was caught in a fire caused by a faulty furnace in a house in Oakland, CA late last week. He died due to massive smoke inhalation. Evan was an incredible musician and a dear, dear friend. He was a member of Japonize Elephants, Rogue Wave, The Hollows, Mega Mousse, Kentucky Nightmare, and countless other projects and collaborations. He was funny, kind, generous, and supremely talented — he will be missed terribly. Evan was also a husband and a father, and a memorial fund has been set up in his honor. If you find it in your heart, please donate. We love you, Evan, and we are better people for having known you.

when jason passed through italy last month he was invited to record a few songs for MAPS radio. they now have video and mp3s of that session posted on their site.

jason molina’s london sojourn has proved to be quite beneficial to his fans in europe- another solo tour is set to launch in two weeks. he’ll wrap the year up on december 15th with a very special solo show at the luminaire in london where everyone will walk away with something rare and amazing. this show will sell out early.

the magnolia electric co. fall american tour wrapped up a few weeks ago and the remaining copies of the sojourner box set have been returned to secretly canadian. they should be appearing back in the online shop sometime in the next few days. other than the copies floating around in the shops, this will likely be your last chance to get the box set. on november 6th, secretly canadian will also be adding a limited supply of the old songs: ohia tour cds ‘the ghost’ and ‘protection spells’ to their shop. this is not a full reissue - a small stash of old sleeves were found and a batch of cds was pressed to complete them. these were immensely popular on the fall tour, so you don’t want to dally when they become available.

the big fall u.s. tour started a few days ago and folks are buzzing about the selection at the merch booth. in addition to the recently released sojourner box set you’ll find two other releases that haven’t appeared on a merch table for over 7 years now. a stash of the long out-of-print tour cds the ghost and protection spells was discovered and they’re available for just $12 at one of the upcoming shows. so be sure to make it out to see the band live or resign yourself to the ridiculous ebay prices these have seen so far this millenium.