Guster playing at Maine Center for the Arts

Guster loves Maine. And Maine loves Guster.

The Boston-based band loves Maine so much that guitarist Adam Garland moved to Portland, and two years ago the band recorded a live album titled “Guster on Ice” over two nights at Portland’s State Theater. Its show this Thursday, Nov. 16, at the Maine Center for the Arts in Orono, will be its second appearance at the venue in five years and their second in Maine just this year.

So what it is about the Pine Tree State that Guster loves?

“I guess it’s sort of a home away from home,” said percussionist and hand drummer Brian Rosenworcel. “You know, they say it’s the way life should be. We’ve always just felt connected to it.”

Guster has been making infectious, catchy alternative roots-pop since 1991, when the three original members met at Boston’s Tufts University. Rosenworcel’s hand drumming, in place of a traditional drum kit, and the band’s killer harmonies set the band apart from others in the Boston music scene. The drumming also gained Rosenworcel the nickname “Thundergod.”

Five studio albums later, Guster – now numbering four – maintains a steady regimen of touring and recording that has endeared them to jam band and indie rock fans. Roseworcel, Garland, co-guitarist and bassist Ryan Miller and multi-instrumentalist Joe Pisapia have been especially busy this year, what with touring, releasing in June a new album – “Ganging Up on the Sun” – and keeping fans entertained with homemade videos regularly posted on the band’s Web site, www.guster.com.

“As a band that’s always on tour all the time, we have lots of dumb ideas,” laughed Rosenworcel, speaking on the phone from a tour stop in Ann Arbor, Mich. “Through our Web site, we can indulge them. You can really share every dumb idea you have.”

One of those “dumb ideas” came when the band met Jeff Garlin, one of the stars of HBO’s sitcom “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” at a show. Several podcasts featuring the band and Garlin are available for download on www.guster.com.

“Our tour manager spotted him in the crowd and sort of plucked him out,” said Rosenworcel. “We ended up meeting him, and of course we’re fans of ‘Curb,’ so we ended up going into the studio for a couple of hours and talking, and then editing it into a podcastible form. Half the conversation is me saying, ‘Hey, remember that episode with the bowling shoes? That was hilarious!'”

The band has a special event planned for super fans this January: a four-day cruise, dubbed the “Ships and Dip Cruise,” through the Caribbean with everyone’s favorite Canadians, the Barenaked Ladies.

“We’ve never done anything like it before,” said Rosenworcel. “We’ll play one night, they’ll play the next night. And then we’ll combine like one giant wedding band. We’re just gonna have fun with it. And I hope it’s fun, because if you’re not having fun, there won’t be anywhere else to go!”

The Thundergod is a pretty funny guy, as evidenced by the tour journals he writes for the Web site, where he details Guster-on-the-road stories such as singing the national anthem at Fenway Park, appearing on a Washington, D.C., kids TV show called “Pancake Mountain,” and singing karaoke all over the country.

So it’s par for the course that Guster is encouraging fans to submit video of themselves doing their best impression of Guster drum technician Scooter. Winners receive airfare and a cabin for two on the Ships and Dip cruise. So who is Scooter?

“He’s kind of a young, energetic and likeable type,” said Rosenworcel. “We’ve taken him on as our mascot. So if you send a video pretending to be him, you could win a trip on this cruise.”

Now that’s not a dumb idea, is it?

Guster will play at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16, at the Maine Center for the Arts on the University of Maine campus in Orono, with special guest Pete Kilpatrick. Tickets are $12 for students and $22 for the general public, and may be purchased at the MCA box office. Emily Burnham can be reached at eburnham@bangordailynews.net.