I hadn’t heard of The Wilders, but a friend in Seattle tipped me off. “I’ve seen them twice and I think they’re my favorite band to see live,” she e-mailed me.

So I was passing by Old City Hall last night (Friday) and thought, “Well, I better at least check ‘em out.” The Kansas City quartet played a totally inspired version of honkytonkin’ country and bluegrass. It was another fabulous show presented by the Oaksong Music Society.

They had a quirky bit of outlaw to them with frontman Ike Sheldon in a dark suit and cowboy hat, looking like a Mennonite preacher who ditched it to become an Old West huckster.

Multi-instrumentalist Phil Wade sported a Junior Brown cowboy hat, played the crap out of everything he touched (dobro especially) and looked like he could ride a bull in the PRCA. Betse Ellis has a wonderful air about her and plays the kind of seat-of-your-skirt fiddle lines you want in a band like this. Nate Gawron holds it together with his bass, is a superb vocalist (both harmony and lead) and an excellent songwriter (along with Sheldon).

The band has great songs, harmonies, pickin’, spirit and style. Their CD “Someone’s Got to Pay” represents their live sound well and features a murder-ballad theme of “Sittin’ On a Jury” that runs through several songs (written by Wade). It’s a good mix of tunes and tones and I’m already crazy about Sheldon’s mournful title-track ballad.

The Wilders are my most recent discovery, but at the recent Strawberry Music Festival, I made some other key finds, including the acts Po’ Girl, J.J. Grey and Mofro and Mike Ferris and the Roseland Rhythm Revue.