It's Friday afternoon and Pat McGee is running around Auburn University's football field, trying to escape the roaring guitar of his sound-checking band, clutching his cellular phone and trying to explain to me exactly what "modern classic rock" is.
Tonight, his band will be part of Auburn's annual homecoming show. The group will share the stage - located in an 80,000-seat football stadium - with the Beach Boys and Tonic.
"It should be interesting," McGee says, after noting how lucky he'll be to play with the Beach Boys but nonetheless sounding a little skeptical of the odd lineup.
Unlike Auburn, Tufts doesn't have a venue capable of fitting a small city. It'll be a different type of show, then, when McGee's sextet kicks off Tufts' own homecoming weekend by headlining the University's annual fall rock show Wednesday in Dewick.
Pat McGee began playing music at an early age, briefly studying piano as a child and then picking up the family clarinet in grade school. "I wanted to play sax," he recalls, "but my family had a clarinet, so that's what I played." He found neither instrument alluring enough to continue, but he acquired an informal music education from his family.
"Both my parents had a lot of records around the house - Nat King Cole, the Beatles, Barbara Streisand, whatever it was." McGee's older brother and sister had a similar love for music, and as he entered his teenage years, McGee felt a pining for the guitar. When he was 16, his Christmas wish came true: his parents gave him his first acoustic guitar.
Wasting no time, McGee formed a "high school band" with his older brother and a neighborhood friend. The acoustic trio played classic rock covers throughout Virginia. "You know - you play two gigs a year, a few Battle of the Bands, and anywhere people will have you play in their backyards," he explains.
When McGee's brother decided to travel to Scotland in order to earn his Masters in physical therapy, the band fell apart. McGee soon enrolled in Longwood College in Farmville, VA, where he planned to study Occupational Therapy. However, he began playing shows by himself and encountered considerable success. Playing mostly covers, his studies were soon losing out to his performances.
"There wasn't a whole lot of studying going on. I'd be waking up in other cities and it's pretty hard going to class in towns your college isn't in. My GPA kept on skyrocketing down."
After two years at Longwood, McGee became a part-time student in an attempt to balance his music and his studies. He began writing his own songs after he turned 21, and released his debut album, From The Wood, in 1995.
The disc sold surprisingly well, and McGee started gigging throughout Virginia and the Georgetown area, this time performing original works. He assembled a touring band, and found an able pool of talent close to his Virginia home. "I knew the guys from different bands, knew the guys from Richmond. I was kind of waiting for some of their bands to break up. I had to do a little band wrecking, some home wrecking," he says, laughing, without the slightest hint of guilt in his voice. McGee put together a backing quintet, featuring guitarist Al Walsh, bassist John Small, keyboardist Jonathan Williams, drummer Chris Williams, and percussionist Chardy McEwan. Together they released Revel, an album of originals, in 1997 and General Admission, a live album, in 1999.
This January, Brian Fechino replaced Walsh as the band's second guitarist. "Al Walsh's voice was identical to James Taylor's," notes McGee. "We were a lot more James Taylor-y with Al. Now we're more like a modern-day Eagles." Fechino plays electric guitar almost exclusively, with McGee splitting his time between electric and acoustic. "Bryan is definitely the more accomplished guitar player. I'm more of a hack," McGee admits, once again laughing.
Listen to the Pat McGee Band's latest album, Shine, and you'll find yourself a little perplexed by its folksiness and classic rock vibe. Is it one or the other? Can an album released this year be classic rock?
"We're an acoustic rock band," McGee says. But he quickly adds, "although now we're not as acoustic as we used to be..." almost questioningly. Classification and genre-pinning are more complicated than usual in this case. McGee still does most of the songwriting himself, and cites as primary influences the Allmans, Led Zeppelin, and, of course, James Taylor.
Still, McGee is careful to point out that he doesn't ignore rock's more modern accomplishments: "At the same time, I'd be the first person to buy CDs from Linkin Park and Jimmy Buffet on the same day."
Despite the major labels' affinity for surefire sells - the "flavor of the moment," as McGee puts it - he and his bandmates recently secured a contract with Giant Records, which is affiliated with Warner Brothers. "Now it's definitely 'produce the hit,'" McGee says. "It gets scarier every time you put out a new record... it's really important for a band like us to have good sales off the rack. Majors are very quick to pull the plug on promotions for your record."
Still, McGee is confident with the arrangement. "You're not signing there because you like the WB logo and want a lot of money...you want to get exposure. They expect things from you, and they should."
For now, that exposure consists of constant playing both small clubs and college campuses alike. "We're just kind of in that time zone now - it's all colleges." In Fact, the Pat McGee Band will play at Brandeis University Tuesday night, Tufts Wednesday night, and Syracuse University Thursday night. And every year, the band has its own homecoming: it headlines the Wolftrap, a 7,000-seat outdoor theater in Vienna, Virginia. The show is always a sellout.
"You gotta step up and be a touring act to see what the effects are. A lot of bands think they can sit around and watch their royalties roll in, but they're gonna find that it's not as profitable to sit at home and collect your money."
The Fall Rock Show will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 24, at Dewick MacPhie Dining Hall. Doors will open at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 and are currently on sale. A valid Tufts ID is required.
