Wylie & the Wild West Show Lasso Top Prize : Country music: The quartet is awarded $7,500 at the regional finals in Anaheim and now heads to the national finals in Nashville.

ANAHEIM —  Wylie & the Wild West Show, a band formed by a lanky 30-year-old singer who moved to Van Nuys from Conrad, Mont., took the top prize early Thursday morning in the Southern California regional finals of the Marlboro Music Talent Roundup.

The quartet, whose wry songs spanned razor-edged cow-punk to traditional Western yodeling, was awarded $7,500. One of nine semifinalists taking part in the 4 1/2-hour contest at the Bandstand nightclub, the group also won the right to represent the Southland against 10 other acts in national finals in Nashville on Nov. 16.

Second place, a cash prize of $3,000, went to smoky-voiced Long Beach singer Robin Pearl, who said she recently resumed her music career after a two-year maternity leave. Singer and songwriter Lisa Scott of Beverly Hills took the third prize, $1,000.

Orange County’s sole entry in the regionals was Pickit Line, a bluegrass band based in Dana Point. The contest is restricted to performers without major-label record contracts. The winner of the national finals will get $30,000 and 40 hours of recording time in a Nashville studio with producer and engineer Barry Beckett, who has worked with Bob Dylan, Hank Williams Jr. and others.

At the Bandstand, some of the contestants played songs by other artists; most relied on their own compositions, as did Wylie Gustafson, whose horn-rimmed glasses and electroshock treatment hairstyle make him look like a cross between Elvis Costello and Lyle Lovett.

Gustafson’s songs included a witty account of post-breakup regret titled “Two Cups of Coffee and Three Cigarettes,” and a stinging jab at urban cowboys, “All Hat (and No Cattle).”

The Wild West Show band played with rock-tinged muscle that brought Dwight Yoakam to mind. Gustafson, who spent the early ‘80s trying unsuccessfully to get a hit with a rock band, said he put the Wild West Show together with country musicians he met while frequenting the Palomino club in North Hollywood. “We go to the barn dances that Ronnie Mack hosts every Tuesday night,” he said. “He gets quality bands, and there’s no cover charge. I think it’s a real healthy thing for musicians to have.”

“We were lucky,” Gustafson said after winning the contest. “We have a saying up north: ‘Even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while.’ ”

The semifinals were “very tough to judge,” said Craig Powers, program director at Orange County country radio station KIK-FM (94.3), one of 10 judges. Interviewed before the winners were announced, Powers said, “in some contests like this, you get three or four groups that really stand out over the rest. These were all very good and pretty much on the same level, with maybe just one exception.”

Powers also said he discerned “a definite Southern California sound” among the bands that competed. “I haven’t quite put my finger on it yet,” he said. “It’s traditional yet modern at the same time.”

The judges, who came from record companies, radio and other media, rated each band on a scale of 1 to 5 in seven categories: original songs, choice of material, arrangements, vocal ability, musical ability, stage presence and audience rapport. Each act had a maximum of 20 minutes in front of the judges and an audience of several hundred.