By: Jackie Lo

When I think of Jason Molina, I think about the early days of Bottletree, where he played a month after they opened their doors, again the following year, and then, thankfully, We Have Signal documented Magnolia Electric Co.’s final 2008 Bottletree performance (video below). I remember the first year Substrate Radio launched, talking about Songs: Ohia with Dan from Seasick before Seasick Records opened its doors, too. It’s a nostalgic, beautiful time in Birmingham’s history, when staples in our community were just beginning and this music was inspiring us. So, when Sidewalk reached out to see if I’d want to review You Fuckers Figure It Out: A Jason Molina Story, playing Saturday night at the Sidewalk Film Festival, my answer was an immediate yes.

Directed by Tommy Nickoloff, this documentary is filled with interviews from Jason Molina’s brother, sister, bandmates, and friends. Filled with details that feel deeply personal and precious to each person sharing them, the one I immediately clung to was Jason’s love of Choose Your Own Adventure books. With each interview, the director takes you on an adventure chosen by each person, filled with truths and maybe a bit of folklore mixed in, just the way Jason seemed to live his life and write his music.

From growing up in Lorain, Ohio, in a trailer on Lake Erie—”butt poor,” as Jason described it—you see the connection that home had to his music. From taking a lantern, a boombox, and fishing poles down to the lake so he and his brother could listen to baseball games while they fished, to walking the railroad tracks to get to friends’ houses, the imagery of his hometown, seen through this documentary, pairs flawlessly with the music layered throughout.

There’s a beautiful connection between seeing the steel mills of Lorain and looking out the back door of my office at Sloss Furnaces. It made me think about the history of these towns—loving a place that can feel small and suffocating while longing for more, yet still holding an immense pride for your home. These places create some of my favorite people—the Jasons. These outcasts who grasp for counterculture, wear jean jackets, listen to Ozzy, and form bands that no one around them understands. This desire is deeply rooted in so many of my favorite artists, and this documentary perfectly shows how Jason was always unapologetically—and sometimes annoyingly—himself.

I loved the imagery woven throughout the film, including album art and drawings of ghosts, moons, and owls. You even get a few bonus ghosts in the interviews as artwork falls off the wall, lights burn out, and a poster prominently featured in one interview is dated with Jason’s death date. It’s perfectly and authentically spooky.

Of course, any Jason Molina fan knows how this story ends, but the documentary doesn’t dwell on the tragedy, which I respect. As someone who has recently lost my own Jason and understands grief deeply and personally, I know the ending is not what defines the person. It’s the love, the spider story, the photos, the live footage, the art, waking everyone up in the house when you go outside to play your guitar in the morning, the chair you take with you everywhere, the friendships, and everything that made you uniquely you. You can tell this documentary was made with love, and by people who loved Jason, to give those of us who know the music a glimpse behind the curtain at what made Jason, Jason.

Want to see it for yourself? Come out to the Sidewalk Film Festival on Saturday at 9:45 p.m. in Sidewalk Cinema Theatre A to see ‘You Fuckers Figure It Out: A Jason Molina Story’, and get your tickets HERE.

Link to the documentary Instagram HERE