Magnolia Collective — Ghost Stories.

I owe a debt of gratitude to MagCo — I’d been shooting local music for a few years, but I really got a introduction to the center of the Chapel Hill scene thanks to their regular Thursday residency at the Station this year. I met people I’d never have met otherwise, and got to listen to great music while I was doing so.

Magnolia Collective started as a side project for a lot of people — a chance for people who liked each other and liked Americana music to get together and play covers of songs they loved (and the occasional original by frontman Daniel Snyder) for an audience, but over this year, it became the primary project for most of those folks. Daniel and guitarists Rich McLaughlin and Zach Terry started writing together, and the result is this EP: 7 original songs from Magnolia Collective, all of them tested and tried in their regular set, at home between the Wilco and the Felice Brothers cover.

That’s what’s best about this release; it sounds familiar (and not just because MagCo probably falls under my “Could I Borrow A PA On A Sunday” rule of objectivity) without being boring or already done. It’s new songs with a familiar sound, played by great musicians and laid over by Daniel’s startling voice. (He has one of the best voices in the Triangle, hands down.) I’d recommend it to Triangle residents and non-residents alike, if you like indie roots rock and great guitar work.

Magnolia Collective celebrates the release on Saturday at Local 506 with the Moaners and Stag. 10pm, $8 door price includes a copy of the EP. I’m going to be in Raleigh but y’all go for me, okay? Okay.