Rootdown is, from left, Craig Paulsen, Paul Wright, Matt Salinas and Jackson Michelson.

Paul Wright started Rootdown in 2006, and five years later, he says Bend has been supportive from the beginning.

The band started out here playing The Summit Saloon and more recently has found fertile ground at McMenamins Old St. Francis School. They’ve also played the Tower Theatre and an outdoor festival or two.

“There’s been times in the band where we wanted to claim Bend as our hometown,” Wright said in a telephone interview last week. “We owe everyone over there a big thanks for giving us the opportunities and for being so supportive.”

And so, it’s no surprise that the Eugene-based band will hold one of its two CD-release shows here, on Saturday (see “If you go”), to celebrate its new album “Tidal Wave.”

If you know Rootdown, you know “Tidal Wave.” The band’s debut full-length (after two EPs) features 10 tracks of vibrant, reggae-influenced pop-rock with a positive outlook. Rootdown’s music is like a aural shot of concentrated sunshine, a response, no doubt, to the drizzly climate of the band’s hometown.

“Our banner is one of hope and positive momentum,” Wright said. “We want to be about encouraging people and about bringing hope, and sometimes living in Oregon — at least on our side over here — it can be pretty depressing six or seven months out of the year.

“When it’s sunny here, man, we take notice,” he continued. “We kinda bring that same feeling that I get when it’s springtime and summer starts to hit here. I think we bring that with our show and our music.”

Wright, 31, has been a solo artist for almost a decade, recording three albums for a Christian record label and scoring a major Christian radio hit with “From Sunrise to Sunset.” He was living in San Diego and working at a mega-church, however, when an airplane flight over the city inspired him to look outside the faith-based box.

“I really enjoyed (making Christian music) but there was an element that I felt like was missing,” he said. “I really had a heart to get outside of the church and play in the larger community and be a band that people could come and just have fun and be encouraged and leave inspired.”

Rootdown’s music is not the only sunny component of its sound. Wright’s lyrics are unrelentingly upbeat, a perfect fit for the band’s pure, breezy pop, and a less evangelical reflection of his faith.

“I like to relate it to a conversation. If I were to meet you in Bend, I’d probably first get to know you, and it wouldn’t be like, ‘Who is God?’” he said, affecting a serious tone for those last three words. “I think that’s kind of Rootdown’s approach in our music. It’s really a conversation, like, ‘Let’s have a good time. Life is short. There’s a reason we’re all here.’

“We’re a band that likes to sing about burritos and sunrises, fun stuff like that,” Wright said. “We like to take our music serious, but at the same time not take ourselves too serious.”

As for “Tidal Wave,” Wright thinks it’s a better representation of Rootdown than any of the band’s previous recordings. He and his mates — guitarist Matt Salinas, bassist Jackson Michelson and drummer Craig Paulsen — worked on it for the past two years, writing a ton of songs, playing them live, and letting the best rise to the top.

The result is an album that’s super-fun, full of hooks, and punchy, not lightweight. It’s a sound that matches the life-affirming experience of seeing Rootdown play in person, Wright said.

“I think people in the past would say, ‘Here’s the Rootdown EP, but you’ve got to check out their live show.’” he said. “But now I feel like they’re going to be able to say, ‘Check out the Rootdown CD. It’s awesome.’”

If you go

What: Rootdown CD-release show

When: 7 p.m. Saturday

Where: McMenamins Old St. Francis School, 700 N.W. Bond St., Bend

Cost: Free

Contact: www.mcmenamins.com or 541-382-5174