After nearly 20 years on the music scene, Edwin McCain still feels the same passion when he steps out on stage each night.

“I don’t feel any different than when I was playing at the frat houses,” McCain said. “Performing allows me to play music for a living and do what I absolutely love to do.”

McCain, a figure from the ’90s music scene known for songs such as “I’ll Be,” “I Could Not Ask for More” and “Solitude,” accidentally found his claim to fame through the pop hits. They received generous radio play and even found their way to the wedding circuit.

But McCain has never considered himself a part of any one genre.

“I’m a singer-songwriter guy with a guitar, carrying on a tradition of storytelling with songs,” McCain said. “I’m telling my story. As songwriters, we are ambassadors of possibility who write about what we know and also what we feel. Hope is an essential component to writing music because we give it to each other.”

A native of Greenville, S.C., McCain has always related back to his Southern roots as part of the creative process.

“Music is indestructible as long as it comes from people’s hearts,” he said. “It’s a Southern thing, too. It’s a different life growing up, coming from a different point of view. You go through this process of finding yourself, falling down and getting back up again. That’s how it is.”

McCain is coming out with a career retrospective album in early 2010 with a few new cuts to accentuate the old hits. After working closely with favorite writing partner Maia Sharp, he already has a full-length record of new material ready to go. The two have a connection, what McCain jokingly refers to as a “bromance.”

McCain has also recently been asked to write material for the new Lynyrd Skynyrd album. However, one of McCain’s biggest inspirations is the Athens music scene.

“I have a really special place in my heart for Athens,” McCain said. “It’s an incredible music town. I used to sneak out of town when I was in high school to go see Love Tractor in Athens. Athens has that artist’s soul. It has a sense of independence above all else, and that’s inspiring. I was always fascinated by Widespread Panic and Pylon.”

During the early ’90s, McCain and his band played at fraternity parties. But he had a dream that never came true.

“I always wanted to be cool enough to be an Athens band and play at the 40 Watt,” McCain said. “But recently, I was working with Turner South on a show to highlight working bands that are ignored by the media. We had Vic Chesnutt and Drive-By Truckers. I remember sitting there listening to Drive-By Truckers and thinking that music was absolutely going to be OK, no matter what happens.”

McCain is excited to return to Athens and play at a new venue, the Rialto Room.

“I prefer playing live,” he said. “The studio doesn’t have that organic feel to it. It’s a beautiful moment to connect with the audience. It’s no longer me, but us. A ‘we’ moment. That’s why I go to live shows, too, to hear that connection. In a song, you have an economy of language, with only so much space to use your words, and it’s honest and emotional.”