You know those quest narratives where one central character sets out with a pure purpose, brave and unprepared, and then along the winding road meets loyal friends who join forces? The story of Naseem Khuri and Kingsley Flood carries some of these “Wizard of Oz” overtones.

Khuri set out for a life of bureaucratic wheeling and dealing, but couldn’t bear the office shackles and knew life had more to offer. He instead set about writing honest songs that cast his experience in the evolving sound of Americana.

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Kingsley Flood plays at Port City Music Hall Saturday with other bands in the This Way CD-release show. Kelly Davidson photo

Now the six-piece band Kingsley Flood (Chris Barrett on trumpet and percussion, George Hall on electric guitar, Khuri on acoustic guitar and lead vocals, Jenee Morgan on violin, Nick Balkin on bass and Steve Lord on drums) is quite the force to be reckoned with, taking the shared quest as far as the title of Best Roots Act in Boston in 2010.

On Saturday, Kingsley Flood will perform on a multi-act bill at Port City Music Hall celebrating the release of This Way’s new CD. GO recently talked with Khuri to learn how the band has coalesced, and how the Yellow Brick Road led to some Maine yurts.

So give us the condensed version of the last 24 months of the band’s life.

Get born. Play dive bars. Retreat to Vermont to record album. Play other bars. Release album. Play clubs. Go on NPR. Win awards and stuff. Buy dive van. Tour. Play at South by Southwest. Record single. Make video. Play dive bars. Repeat.

How would you characterize your live show for the uninitiated?

We work hard on our splits so they look really good behind the fog machines and pyrotechnics. That’s what we like to think, but really our shows are just a lot of fun. We love diversity, so you’ll see a lot of us switching instruments, you’ll hear dynamics from slow to rowdy, and you’ll feel a lot of energy. And we promise not to do splits.

What was the coolest takeaway from SXSW and Austin in general?

Food trucks! Seriously, why aren’t these things everywhere? Besides that, it was just really incredible to play alongside so many amazing bands.

Talk about what it means to be named Best Roots Act. What does “roots” mean to you?

We consider it a catch-all word for music steeped in the American identity. We like to think it’s hard to pin us down musically, and that works with the whole Americana tradition, whether it comes from country, blues, folk, etc. So we basically have ADD, can’t stick to one sound, and love the idea of community that Americana inspires. You can play this music in stadiums with 10,000 friends and on front porches with 10.

How will the forthcoming record sound different from the debut, “Dust Windows?”

Like that record, you may get hints of everything from The Clash to The Band, with New Orleans in between. Unlike that record, you’ll get a more developed sound. We’re a different band now, and finally feel like we have our own identity. So you’ll hear our trumpet/fiddle dual attack, jangly acoustic guitar supporting a piercing electric one, and, of course, lots of voices.

Why is New England a great place to start a band?

There’s just a hell of a scene in Boston — a lot of people passionate about music from all walks of life, bringing a ton of different perspectives and shaking up genres.

What is Kingsley Flood’s most vivid Maine memory?

Taking a band retreat to this awesome yurt-like house near Bath, and having a bunch of “a-ha” moments while working on new songs. That was cool. Also, playing a college gig where the entire hockey team used our show as their post-pub crawl party and performed the forbidden dance with our trumpeter, Chris. That was cool too. But not for Chris.

Mike Olcott is a freelance writer who lives in Portland and Boston.

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