Earlier today, Chunklet reported that Jason Molina, leader of dark-folk luminary Songs: Ohia and the more musically conservative but no less revelatory Magnolia Electric Co., passed away on Saturday, Mar. 16 due to organ failure.

Molina had been in poor health for several years, which Chunklet founder Henry Owings, a close friend of Molina's, revealed in a 2011 blog post was due to the singer's ongoing struggle with alcoholism. Despite a well-heeded call for support from friends and fans, and the silence-breaking release last year of Autumn Bird Songs, a set of tunes meant to accompany a book of William Schaff's artwork, Molina's addiction continued to rule his life.

It's tough to put into words what this means to me, personally; I count Molina as one of my favorite, if not my absolute favorite, songwriters of all time. But I won't try to eulogize the man. I'll let the tunes do the talking.

Keep the music close; keep your friends closer.

Listen to a stripped-down solo Jason Molina set at Flicker Theatre & Bar from 2006 courtesy of Southern Shelter. (Also: Phosphorescent, Liz Durrett and Castanets. Yeah, that was a show.)