Brian Hofeldt

Austin, Texas, USA

The Derailers has been around from 1994-present.

The Derailers are an American country music band based in Austin, Texas. They were founded by Portland, Oregon natives Tony Villanueva and Brian Hofeldt in 1994 , and their first LP, Live Tracks was issued in 1995. It was the first release of the Austin-based independent label Freedom Records. Shortly after the release, the Derailers became one of the most talked about acts at Austin’s 1995 South by Southwest music festival, and the record became profitable within two months. This occurred at a time when “Americana” radio stations were starting to mutiply and various forms of non-mainstream country music were coming together under such rubrics as Americana and alternative-country. The Derailers became a major part of that movement, representing the “traditional honky-tonk” end of the sub-genre.