Through nine years, six albums, and numerous rhythm section changes, the two constants in Austin's The Derailers have been Tony Villanueva and Brian Hofeldt, the group's guitarists, lead vocalists, and main songwriters.

Since 1994, the band has been one of the shining lights of the Austin music scene, recording and touring prolifically in support of a sound influenced by Bakersfield artists like Buck Owens and Wynn Stewart as well as by the early '60s pop of The Beatles and Roy Orbison.

The Derailers are back again with their latest album, "Genuine," to be released in March on Sony's Lucky Dog subsidiary, and their second for the label.

"(Lucky Dog has been) really supportive," says Villanueva in a telephone interview. "They've been fans of the band since before we actually signed with them. They just want us to be us. We have the best of both worlds because Lucky Dog is somewhat like an indie label, but at the same time with the capabilities and the resources of a major label."

Both now 35, Villanueva and Hofeldt first met when they were about 21 and living in Portland, Ore.

"We were doing Tony's songs, (which were) already leaning toward our sound," says Hofeldt from his home in Austin. "We were into similar kinds of music, and we wanted to have a country band. There were some other guys in the band and their influences were not exactly what we wanted, so it wasn't exactly the band we wanted."

Asked about a persistent rumor over the years that he and Villanueva had been in a Ted Nugent cover band while still in Portland, Hofeldt laughs and says, "Well, we played 'Stranglehold' (in) another band we were in, just to make some bread. We still throw that in now and again. In 'Raspberry Beret,' (the Prince song they cover) you might hear a little 'Stranglehold' come in there."

Young, restless, and wanting to try living in an area where country music was more popular, Villanueva decided to move to Austin in the early '90s, with Hofeldt following a year later.

According to Hofeldt, "Tony came by and woke me up at 6 a.m. one morning and said, 'Man, I'm moving away. I just wanted to let you know, and I'll give you a shout when I get to where I'm going.' I'd seen him a week before, and I didn't know anything about it."

"So, he calls me up later on and says, 'Man, I'm in Austin, and this town is great! You've gotta come down, and check it out.' So I did. Took a week off from work, went down to check it out, and exactly a year later, I moved down and we got The Derailers going."

The band fit in perfectly in the heady Austin scene of the mid-'90s, a time when like-minded young turks such as Dale Watson and Wayne Hancock were also making waves.

The Derailers' first release was 1995's "Live Tracks," a collection of covers and originals (most of which were re-recorded for later albums) culled from a live performance on Austin's KUT.

The album opened the door both to more gigs and to a contract with local label Watermelon Records, which released the band's first studio album, "Jackpot," in 1996 and co-released 1997's "Reverb Deluxe" through a distribution deal with Sire Records.

Although the group eventually released two albums on Sire, 1999's "Full Western Dress" came out just as the label was purchased by London Records, who both Hofeldt and Villanueva say had little or no interest in country music.

Released from their Sire contract, the band quickly signed with Sony's Lucky Dog subsidiary (who had first courted the band while they were still signed to Watermelon), and hopes were initially high for the next album, "Here Come the Derailers."

Produced by Nashville studio ace Kyle Lehning, who took the reins from the group's longtime producer Dave Alvin (and who is best known for his work with the likes of Randy Travis and George Jones), the record contained some fine material - particularly the clever "Bar Exam," "There Goes the Bride" and an excellent cover of Arthur Alexander's "If It's Really Got to Be This Way" - and Lehning's radio-savvy production gave the band the best shot they'd had yet at commercial success.

Unfortunately, "Here Come the Derailers" also had the dubious distinction of being released on Sept. 11, 2001. As a result, its charms were overlooked by country radio stations that were shifting their playlists over to patriotic fare as quickly as possible.

Asked if he's worried about releasing yet another album at a time when the U.S. appears likely to be engaged in an international crisis - an increasingly likely war with Iraq - Villanueva seems not to have given the possibility much consideration.

"I really hadn't thought about it. I don't know why, especially considering when our last record came out."

For his part, Hofeldt also doesn't seem terribly concerned, having already experienced releasing albums that have been buried in label mergers and national emergencies.

"As far as getting lost, we know what that's like," says Hofeldt. "I don't think it could be any worse than that. Music is an important part of people's lives, and I think we've made a really positive record."

"Positive" is, in fact, perhaps the best description for "Genuine," for which the band once again retained Lehning's services.

"We were really happy with how it went last time," says Villanueva, "and he said he'd be willing to do it again, so we went with him. I guess it's about the same approach - just looking for good songs."

To take care of that, Lehning and The Derailers also brought back some of the writers who contributed to the last album, including hitmakers Kostas (who co-wrote "Boomerang Heart") and Jim Lauderdale (who pitched in on "The Way to My Heart" and "Take It Back").

Villanueva says that he and the other members of the group are big fans of Lauderdale's songs. "We listen to all kinds of demos, but Kyle definitely went to Jim Lauderdale's people and asked them for stuff."

Also contributing is former NRBQ guitarist Al Anderson, who penned the album's Beatlesque title track with Villanueva. Best of the bunch, perhaps, is "Alone With You," co-written by Hofeldt and recalling the best of Roy Orbison's early '60s Monument hits with its lush production and sweeping strings.

The album evokes the optimistic pop and country records of the first half of the '60s, from the Bakersfield Sound to Merseybeat. And even given the more modern studio sound that has resulted from Lehning's production, the band's heart clearly lies with pop and country recordings of that era.

For his part, Hofeldt (who, incidentally, is wearing his hair longer these days in what can only be described as something of an early Beatles look) maintains that other influences from that period have been there from the start, in spite of the group's longtime rep as Bakersfield Sound revivalists.

"I grew up listening to The Beatles and Elvis almost exclusively for a long time," says Hofeldt. "I didn't really care to listen to too much other music. Then I got into digging back into what The Beatles were listening to, like Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins and Buck Owens. I got into Buck Owens through The Beatles; 'Well, if The Beatles think he's cool, then I think he's cool. The '60s sound has always been prevalent in our music. I've always heard it. I think we've been able to spend more money and time in recording and have been able to do some more fun things in the studio that make the records richer."

"I think if you look at 'Jackpot,' 'I'm Your Man' clearly has a Beatles influence," continues Hofeldt. "On 'Reverb Deluxe,' 'Can't Stop a Train' has kind of a George Harrison/Roy Nichols guitar figure throughout it. Then on 'Full Western Dress,' there's 'Whatever Made You Change Your Mind' and 'Just to Spend the Night With You.' (They) had that sense of melody and pop hooks that I would say was influenced by The Beatles."

Beatles influences aside, The Derailers' sound is almost invariably compared to that of circa-'64 Buck Owens and the Buckaroos. In fact, Owens and The Derailers recorded a song together on 'Full Western Dress," and they usually perform a version of Owens' 1965 hit "Tiger By the Tail" as an encore.

Oddly enough, the band has never actually recorded a Buck Owens composition - the closest they've come has been a live rendition of Harlan Howard's "I'll Catch You When You Fall" on "Live Tracks," which is most closely associated with Owens' 1961 recording.

However, the band has finally recorded an Owens number for the new album, a 1967 instrumental called "The Happy-Go-Lucky Guitar."

"It was on the 'America's Most Wanted Band' album. As much as we get connected with Buck Owens, it took five records to finally record one of his compositions. This was the first Buck-penned song (we've recorded). It's kind of obscure. I think (Buck) will be happy because Don Rich (Owens' longtime lead guitarist and collaborator who died in a motorcycle accident in 1974) was co-writer on it."

The most recent addition to The Derailers' lineup has been veteran Austin drummer Scott Matthews, who joined the band (which also includes bassist Ed Adkins) in mid-2002 following a stint with Dale Watson, replacing longtime drummer Mark Horn.

"Mark moved back to Nashville," says Villanueva. "So we got Scott, and he's done a great job. We didn't even (have to) call him; he called us."

As for their expectations for the new album, both Villanueva and Hofeldt make no bones about the fact that they want to make records that sell well and get played on the radio.

"I think the songwriting has been a process," says Villanueva, "and I've been approaching it differently for quite a while, working at writing something that we think could be commercially viable. My favorite records are commercially viable - of course, at a different time, but I listen to the radio a lot, and there are still a lot of great songs. I'm just trying to build a better mousetrap."

"I think that what's changed is that as artists and songwriters we've grown," adds Hofeldt. "As far as the production goes, we definitely want to be on the radio. We get a producer to get a bit of a balance. Kyle's also a good song man, and we trusted his judgment. We made sure that we made a good-sounding record."

"That's why we don't produce our own records. If it was up to us, we'd probably make 'em sound just like (RCA's) Studio B and Capitol Records in 1965."