Earlier this year, Denton-bred singer-songwriter Will Johnson released his 10th and latest solo album, Diamond City.
He carved out time to create the project amid his ongoing duties as a member of Jason Isbell’s band, the 400 Unit, and enlisted the help of long-time collaborator Britton Beisenherz to help refine and revise his initial demos.
“He just slowly started adding elements to each song, not with any kind of schedule in mind and not with any real master plan,” Johnson told me in April. “But he’d [be like], ‘Hey, man, I put bass and synth on this. Tell me what you think.’ By that point, I was out on the road with the 400 Unit, and every few days, I would get this little gift in my phone, and it would his additions to a certain song.”
Apart from City, that partnership has yielded yet another Johnson endeavor, one which reaches back into the singer-songwriter’s past.
This September, Johnson — as part of Magnolia and Johnson Electric Co. — will pay tribute to the late Jason Molina, with whom Johnson recorded in 2008 as part of Molina and Johnson, a record for which the pair was unable to tour owing to Molina’s alcoholism.
Johnson will join forces with the surviving members of Molina’s Magnolia Electric Co. (Mike Brenner, Jason Evans Groth, Michael Kapinus, Mark Rice and Pete Schreiner) for a brief, four-date Texas tour, which includes a stop at Denton’s Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studio on Sept. 20.
“We’ll traverse the Magnolia Electric Co. and Songs: Ohia catalogs, and draw from the record Molina and I made together in 2008,” Johnson wrote in an Instagram post. “We convened with the great [Britton Beisenherz] in March to record new versions of ‘The Big Beast,’ ’20 Cycles to the Ground’ and ‘Wooden Heart.’ The latter two will be available in September on a limited-edition seven-inch [vinyl].”
The Texas tour is also timed to the 20th anniversary of Magnolia Electric Co. world tour in support of 2005 LPs Trials & Errors and What Comes After the Blues. Press materials indicate there will be multiple sets and “a solemn, yet celebratory evening in memory of Jason Molina.”
Magnolia & Johnson Electric Co. at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios, Denton. 8 p.m. Sept. 20. Tickets are $31.47.
Preston Jones is a North Texas freelance writer and regular contributor to KXT. Email him at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky (@prestonjones.bsky.social).Our work is made possible by our generous, music-loving members. If you like how we lift up local music, consider becoming a KXT sustaining member right here.
