Pat McGee is a guy who can appreciate the simpler things in life: taking a break from performing at large venues like Wolf Trap, which seats more than 7,000, to performing at more intimate settings such as the Santa Fe Cafe.

“It’s a good challenge sometimes to go into places like that and sort of prove yourself and to get the place into what you’re doing, especially in a hardcore college town,” McGee says. “It’s fun to just get in the clubs and really interact with people.”

Interaction is what fans should expect when McGee’s band performs at Santa Fe on Saturday night. McGee says he’s not one to hide backstage prior to the show and credits getting much of his material from talking with friends and fans.

The song “You and I,” for example, came to McGee after hearing about someone’s struggle to stay in a failing relationship.

The Pat McGee Band has been in the music scene for more than a decade. The band members’ experiences over the years are the focus for their upcoming sixth album.

One experience McGee somewhat regrets, he says, was working with major record label Warner Bros. to produce his fourth album, Shine, which came off too polished and studio-cut for his liking.

“Yes, it’s my record, and I’m proud of it, but it’s still something I look back on and go, ‘Oh, I wish we didn’t make it as slick,’ he says. “But that’s what I’m really going to focus on for this next record, making the thing as real as possible – sorta roots rock.”

McGee’s band is now signed to an independent label that gives them more recording freedom and less industry politics, according to McGee.

While the band may possibly play a song off of its upcoming album this Saturday, McGee says another lesson he learned after promoting his last album, Save Me, is not to reveal too much before the album release date.

“We were playing that other music out for so long prior to its release that by the time that record came out people were like, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve been hearing these songs forever,’ McGee says. “It’s like showing someone a painting before you’re even halfway through.”

One song fans can look forward to hearing is “Rebecca,” the first song Pat ever wrote and by far the most requested.

About the stuck-up girls McGee met at college, the name of the song, “Rebecca,” is a fluke, McGee says. Instead, the musician chose to give the song a somewhat fake name to avoid any grief from the girls he knew at the time.

So what lesson does McGee have for current college students who are hoping to strike it big in the music world?

“I thought getting a house gig was like the best thing, like playing every Monday night or every Tuesday night at the same place,” he says. “Get out of the studio – it’s rock music and you should be able to perform it in front of people.”

McGee promises fans a diverse music lineup on Saturday, with songs from all five of his albums and a possible preview of his upcoming album.

“We really mix it up,” McGee says. “I’m not one of these guys that’s like, ‘Oh, we’re supporting our new record, we gotta play all of the new stuff.'”

Pat McGee Band returns to College Park at Santa Fe Cafe Saturday night.

Contact reporter Cassie Bottge at diversions@dbk.umd.edu.