The Schürzenjäger, formerly Zillertaler Schürzenjäger, are one of the most successful bands of Austria. The band was founded in 1973; according to the band history, they were named "Schürzenjäger" by a female bartender in Austria during a concert, when they didn't have a band name.
While they started out playing traditional music with modern instruments, their style developed over the years to incorporate folk music, Pop music, and Rock music. One of their first big hits was the "Zillertaler Hochzeitsmarsch", a modern interpretation of a traditional folk dance melody. From then on they began to introduce more rock elements, inspired by their new drummer Patrick Cox. After Zillertal Hochzeitsblues they moved to the wider German audience under Montana in 1991.
With their commercial success, "Schürzenjäger" became the epitome for filling the gap between rock and "Volksmusik" in Austria, establishing the genre of "Alpen Rock". The folk music community, however, saw the success of the Zillertaler Hochzeitsmarsch not as a success but as an abuse of traditional music.
Schürzenjäger regularly ended their tours with the biggest open-air concerts in Austria.