University UNIQUE programs presents a special “Nooner” Monday with a performance by the new rockabilly, country-style band The Derailers.

Presenting their debut disc for Lucky Dog Records, “Here Come The Derailers,” this Austin quartet introduces a style that brings together country music’s past with a fresh country edge of today.

The group?s founders/singers/guitarists, Tony Villanueva and Brian Hofeldt began playing together in the 1980s in Portland, Ore.

It wasn’t until 1993, when the two met up again in Austin, that theyjoined Mark Horn (drummer) and Ed Atkins (bass) to form The Derailers. Veteran Nashville producer Kyle Lehning (Randy Travis, Waylon Jennings) brings together the band?s own songwriting with material from Music City talents such as Kostas, Jim Lauderdale and others to construct a mix of country, soul and rhythm and blues.

Hofeldt proudly calls it “the best record we’ve ever made. Kyle really understood what we were getting at, and had a clear idea of what we are all about. He was so intuitive about our connections that it was a great experience from top to bottom.”

“The music is really important for us,” Villanueva said. “And it’s really important for it to be fun and for us to have a good time. It’s always been something that makes me really feel good to do, and it feels really good when you see other people having a good time when you are doing it.”