Austin, Texas, soul/blues/R&B duo Greyhounds will return to Volcanic Theatre Pub on Sunday. (Alysee Gafkjen/Submitted photo)

The members of Austin, Texas, soul duo Greyhounds often get asked about their spaceman.

Or spacemen, rather — there’s now three people who will take on the role, said guitarist Andrew Trube. At most of the duo’s shows, the unnamed actor will dance along to the band’s old-school grooves in a bulky astronaut suit.

Trube and keyboardist Anthony Farrell have been coy about the spaceman in past interviews, and will keep the mystery going at their performances for the benefit of confused audience members. Needless to say, there’s been a few misunderstandings over the years.

“Sometimes, he would almost get kicked out of the club, and we’re like, ‘Whoa, whoa, wait, he’s cool, he can be on here; the spaceman’s with us,’” Trube said from Austin. “We did this video at Sun Records a few years back, the Sun Studio Sessions, and we didn’t tell them the spaceman was gonna be there. They were filming us, and we’re recording, and the guy — the director — is like, ‘Oh, OK, cut, cut, cut, cut.’ And we’re like, ‘What’s up?’ We all stop. And he’s like, ‘There’s a spaceman in the shot.’ And we’re like, ‘Oh, yeah, yeah yeah, just keep rolling, man, don’t worry.”

Unfortunately for Bend fans, the spaceman probably won’t return when the duo plays Volcanic Theatre Pub for the second time this year with touring drummer Ed Miles on Sunday, Trube said (but never say never). But the fun-loving spirit that birthed the spaceman in the first place will be on full display.

“There’s a time to take yourself seriously, and then, there’s a time to just enjoy yourself and enjoy what you’re doing, and we try to ride that line,” Trube said. “We try to definitely do a good job; we try to create good-quality, solid music in a show, but you gotta have a good time, man. Especially (because) the audience will know immediately. If you’re in a funk or something’s weird — audiences are smart, man. A lot of artists don’t realize that.”

Trube and Farrell may joke around onstage, but they’ve never been more serious about Greyhounds. The duo have ramped up touring and recording in the last four years since signing a three-record deal with Memphis, Tennessee-based Ardent Music, once the home of Big Star. Prior to the signing, Trube and Farrell had released a few albums at sporadic intervals, and were focusing on other groups such as jam band JJ Grey & Mofro. The duo are also known for sitting in with Tedeschi Trucks Band, which performs some of their original songs.

Greyhounds wasted no time capitalizing on the Ardent deal. The duo released “Accumulator” (2014), live album “Heaven on Earth” (2015) and “Change of Pace” (2016) in quick succession, and quit Mofro about a year and a half ago to dedicate more time to touring with Greyhounds.

The band’s contract with Ardent is complete, but there are no plans to slow down. Greyhounds will self-release its next album, which has been recorded in Memphis and should be released in the spring.

“(Ardent) were very nurturing and helped foster that whole work ethic, and the fact that we’re like, ‘Oh, wow, we can write a song; we can record it, and we can compile a record and actually put it out,’” Trube said. “Usually, it’s like, ‘Well, I got some songs and I recorded them, but I don’t know how I’m gonna get them out.’ … They really helped us out with that. And we learned a lot in our tenure with Mofro because we watched stuff build while we were in that band, and we saw decisions made and certain moves being made. We’ve just been applying that into our whole deal as well. Ardent gave us the confidence to really go for it, and that’s what we did.”

Trube described the new album, tentatively titled “Cheyenne Valley Drive” after the street Texas drummer Miles lives on, as having an organic, live-in-studio feel similar to the duo’s very first album together back in 2004, “Liberty.” The duo cranked out about 39 songs in five days — some new, but most written “years ago.”

“Those were more like true, almost like live birth,” Trube said. “We played — we’re like, let’s work it out on the stage, let’s work it out on tour, and they developed into songs. That’s definitely the vibe of the new record — it’s very live and organic and free.”

Of course, expect plenty of the old-school soul, R&B and blues that originally brought Trube and Farrell together in the late ’90s in Southern California. Texas native Trube brings a blues sensibility to the duo — he grew up on artists such as B.B. King and Buddy Guy — while Farrell was influenced by West Coast soul and hip-hop.

“Change of Pace” introduced another old-school tradition to the Greyhounds’ sound — the R&B protest song. Songs such as “Before BP (The War is on For Your Mind)” and “Walls,” a not-so-subtle jab at a certain campaign promise from the president, tackle current events with underlying themes of unity and compassion.

“We’ve never, ever wanted to be very political, but we have to be honest with ourselves and honest with our writing and what we’re feeling,” Trube said. “And right now, it’s a little crazy, man — there’s some crazy energy out there, and so we’re gonna write songs that reflect that for sure. I have my personal beliefs of things, but I would never, ever try to force those upon anyone, especially through my music. Our goal is to make everyone happy.”

What: Greyhounds

When: 8 p.m. Sunday

Where: Volcanic Theatre Pub, 70 SW Century Drive, Bend

Cost: $8 plus fees in advance, $10 at the door

Contact: volcanictheatrepub.com or 541-323-1881.