Pigeons Playing Ping Pong is a band name that sticks out: It’s whimsical and alliterative, and suggests the group in question doesn’t take itself too seriously. And the image it conjures — well, it’s right there in the name.

It stood out to frontman and rhythm guitarist Greg Ormont, too. More than a decade ago, he and lead guitarist Jeremy Schon were freshmen at the University of Maryland and played together in an acoustic duo that Ormont described as “goofy dorm rock.” The duo needed a name, and inspiration struck while the two were sitting in a psychology class.

“I was spacing out on the wrong page of my psychology textbook when I saw the phrase ‘pigeons playing ping-pong’ literally jump out at me,” Ormont said recently from Los Angeles, where the band was taking a quick tour break before hitting the road for its next round of shows, including a stop at Midtown Ballroom on Feb. 20.

“It was so goofy and silly, and I was certain there were no other Pigeons Playing Ping Pongs out there,” he continued. “I pointed to the phrase and told Jeremy, ‘That’s our band name,’ and he said in one word, ‘Down.’ And that was that. And as we grew up and actually started paying attention in class, we learned that B.F. Skinner, the famous psychologist, actually taught pigeons to peck a ball back and forth through a process called operant conditioning.”

But Pigeons Playing Ping Pong — now a four-piece funk rock juggernaut featuring Ormont, Schon, bassist Ben Carrey and drummer Alex Petropulos — still leans into the sillier connotations of that name. While the group maintains a serious focus on expanding its music, Ormont describes himself and his bandmates as “certified goofballs who are just trying to have a good time and spread some laughs and some smiles while we’re raging the stage.”

The group’s annual Halloween and New Year’s Eve shows are prime examples. For many years the band has played theme shows around these holidays, with past nights dedicated to mashups such as Red Hot Sergeant Peppers (The Beatles meets Red Hot Chili Peppers) and New Year’s stEve (a tribute to musical Steves: Miller, Wonder, Vaughan, etc.), or wider concepts such as this past New Year’s event, the psychedelic-inspired Electric Kool-Aid Asheville Test.

While “fun” might be the key to these shows, they also offer the band chances to play other styles of music, which in turn can influence original material — as it did with fifth album “Presto,” released in January.

“Back in roughly 2013 — somewhere around there, give or take — we did a theme of Motown songs, and that was a really great crash-course in quality songwriting, especially in the fringe funk genre,” Ormont said. “It really taught us a number of ways to make songs push and to give them drive and to keep them catchy. For example, there’s something called a pedal chord, where you have the bass note of the future chord being played on the current chord. So when you make it to that future chord, it kind of pulls you in — the bass note is already there and the rest of your music is catching up. It’s a really nice turn and really nice intention, and there’s a bunch of pedal chords on this album.”

The album’s 11 songs also mix elements of hard rock and jazz with funk, as heard on tracks such as lead single “King Kong” and “Dawn a New Day.” The former song features help from Nashville funk band Here Come the Mummies’ horn section, but most of the album sticks with the band’s simple, two-guitars-bass-drums lineup, which is something of a rarity in the funk world.

That sound and the group’s fun-loving nature has resonated with jam-band fans across the country and especially in Bend. Since debuting in the city at Volcanic Theatre Pub in 2017, the group has been back on an annual basis, graduating to the Domino Room and to the larger Midtown Ballroom for the Feb. 20 date.

“Even our first time coming to Bend, it was a great response, and we were super stoked at how into it everyone was,” Ormont said. “Funk is still alive all the way out in the Pacific Northwest; it was exciting to see.”

After the tour behind “Presto,” the group will turn its focus to the 11th annual Domefest, the festival Schon and Ormont have curated since their college days.

On a more serious note, the group recently launched its first charitable effort, Dawn a New Day Foundation, named for the “Presto” song. A dollar from every ticket sold on the band’s current tour will go to Backline, a foundation that works to provide mental health resources for musicians and other professionals in the music industry.

“If anyone has been on tour before, it can take a toll on your mind,” Ormont said. “It’s hard to stay rested and to keep your mind moving in the right direction, and that also extends to the families of those who are not with their loved ones all the time.”

More Information

What: Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, with Goose

When: 9 p.m. Feb. 20, doors open at 8:30 p.m.

Where: Midtown Ballroom, 51 NW Greenwood Ave., Bend

Cost: $21 plus fees in advance, $25 at the door

Contact: midtownbend.com or 541-408-4329