A Little Bit Country, a Little Bit of Everything Else

He’s only 29, but Tony Villanueva just loves good ol’ country music.

He grew up in Oregon’s farm country and listened on the radio to the West Coast country of Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Wyn Stewart and Red Simpson. From that fondness grew a four-piece band dedicated to picking up the honky-tonk torch and performing in a style that would make the legends proud.

But that band, the Derailers, aspires to more than replication. It wants to pay a real tribute to those who paved the way, and for singer-songwriter-guitarist Villanueva, that means carving out a separate identity.

The Derailers--also featuring lead guitarist-singer-songwriter Brian Hofeldt, bassist Ethan Shaw and drummer Terry Kirkendall--offer great promise based on last year’s debut, “Jackpot,” and especially on “Reverb Deluxe,” which is scheduled for release next month. Both albums offer earthy country, along with western swing dance tunes and rollickin’ rockabilly shuffles.

“We do mix a lot of different ingredients into our pot of stew, but the goal is to spice things up, not to water anything down,” said Villanueva by phone recently from a tour stop in Bakersfield.

He was still buzzing about having played the previous night at Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace, where the club’s namesake joined the upstarts for one wild jam. The Derailers will perform locally Saturday night at the Foothill in Signal Hill.

Villanueva said he and Hofeldt, who co-founded the group in 1993, wouldn’t be true to themselves by playing country alone. Such roots-rock and rockabilly artists as Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley deeply influenced Villanueva. Meanwhile, Hofeldt, who also hails from Oregon, was reared on the early rock of Elvis, the Beatles and Everly Brothers as well as the classic country of Don Rich and Owens.

If the Derailers aren’t country enough for purists, don’t expect any apologies.

“We can’t worry about upsetting the hard-liners because we’re doing what comes naturally from our heart and soul,” Villanueva said. “Isn’t that pure enough? I mean, we even bring some pure pop to what we do simply because we love it. And whether it’s pop or country, it’s usually a good melody that carries a song, anyway.”

*

Villanueva and Hofeldt met in Portland, Ore., just prior to forming a rootsy band called Dead Man’s Hand. But, frustrated by the lack of musical opportunities there, Villanueva took off for Flagstaff, Ariz., and and finally landed in Austin, Texas, in 1989.

He soon asked Hofeldt to join him in Texas, having found “a place to nurture their shared musical vision.” The two began performing original material in local bars and clubs. Original bassist Vic Ziolkowski, a veteran of the Austin scene, eventually joined the group, thus forming the Derailers in 1993. Shaw replaced him last year.

The band caught a break one night when respected roots-rocker Dave Alvin saw them at the popular Continental club. Impressed, Alvin urged Watermelon Records to sign the group, and he’s since produced both of their releases.

The bold spirit of Texas has informed the work of numerous singer-songwriters, including Katy Moffatt, Kris McKay, Joe Ely, Robert Earl Keen and Butch Hancock, among others. Villanueva, too, has been touched by the Lone Star State.

“There’s just something about it that seeps into your being, whether it’s the vast landscape, the authentic Southwestern food or just the incredible music scene,” he said.

“Heck, whenever we’d have a night off, we’d head into town and see [new traditionalist] Wayne Hancock . . . maybe [fiddler] Alvin Crow or, if we were lucky, catch Jim [Lauderdale] somewhere. We feel a real kinship with the so-called ‘alternative-country’ acts that are based here.”

It’s no surprise that older fans are drawn to the tradition-minded sound and style of the Derailers. But listeners in their 20s also seem to be digging it, Villanueva said.

“I think what’s happening is that a lot of these younger folks hear mainstream country music on the radio today, and they don’t particularly care for it,” he said. “That slick, Nashville-based sound is so far from what we do, and these kids have probably never heard country so close to the bone. So they might end up liking us, and we, in turn, try to turn them onto George Jones or Hank Williams.”

Above all, the Derailers look to carry on a tradition of playing down-to-Earth music.

“Honky tonk is intertwined so much with everyday working Americans,” offered Villanueva. “There’s no real mystery here. Just like long ago, people can go out and dance their blues away.”

* The Derailers will appear Saturday at 9 p.m. at the Foothill, 1922 Cherry Ave., Signal Hill. Neil Mooney opens. $10 (562) 494-5196.