For the last 10 years, Texas-based quartet Dexter Freebish has been spreading its seeds of pop-rock across the country through incessant touring, solid songwriting, and two big radio hits, “Leaving Town” and “My Madonna.”

Although these songs received plenty of airtime on Iowa radio stations, Dexter Freebish is hardly a well-known name in the Midwest.

That may change this summer. Armed with an arsenal of songs from its new album and a host of Midwest tour dates, including a show this Saturday at People’s Bar & Grill, 2428 Lincoln Way, the band may soon turn its name into household material for the Heartland.

“This tour will be the most time we’ve ever spent in the Midwest,” says Rob Schilz, drummer for the band. “Of course, people know our music better at home, but I get a lot of satisfaction when people who’ve never seen us come up after a show and say, ‘I’ve never heard you before, but you guys are awesome.’ That’s what it’s all about.”

Freebish has already been warming up to the Iowa scene, playing a free show at People’s on June 2 and a concert at Simon Estes Amphitheater in Des Moines with local band The Nadas last Friday. Schilz says the June 2 concert was a success.

“We had a good time Wednesday,” he says. “People’s is a very cool place. We had a decent-sized crowd, and they were all very into it, which is what we like to see.”

Brian Deets, general manager of People’s, said the crowd was large, but he anticipates a full house for Saturday night’s show, which will feature People’s favorite, Pomeroy.

“Last Wednesday, we had a pretty big crowd of maybe 160, 170 people,” Deets said. “Saturday, we expect it to be sold out, or at capacity, which is 235 people.”

Dexter Freebish has already played around 10 shows with Pomeroy and has several more planned for the summer.

Although pairing Pomeroy’s hard-hitting style of rap-rock with Freebish’s radio-ready ballads may seem strange, Schilz says the relationship works out well for both groups.

“It’s kind of a symbiotic thing,” Schilz says. “Pomeroy does really well in the Midwest, so by playing with them we get more exposure out here. Then, we help them out in the Southeast, where we’ve played a lot, and they really haven’t been as much.”

Schilz says Saturday’s show will feature songs from both the band’s first album, “A Life of Saturdays,” and its latest album, “Tripped Into Divine,” which shows the band growing up a bit.

“The new album is definitely a little more introspective,” Schilz says.

“But it’s not necessarily dark or depressing. The songs talk about personal experience and a lot about relationships — not just love songs, but relationships with parents and friends as well.”

Although Dexter Freebish’s music is usually labeled pop, a distinction Schilz has no problem with, he says it goes deeper than that.

“Our music is definitely reflective of ourselves, emotionally and spiritually,” Schilz says. “It’s somewhat pop, although that word has changed so much. It used to just mean popular music, you know, Jimi Hendrix was pop. Now people think of pop and think *NSync or something, so I’d say our music is really just emotionally and spiritually based rock.”

For now, Dexter Freebish plans to keep touring and promoting its brand of rock, with stops in Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois and Minnesota — not to mention a few in Iowa.

“We’re going to stay on the road and keep pushing this album,” Schilz says. “We just love doing what we do, and if we can make a living doing it, that’s great.”