Omar Kent Dykes
Omar Kent Dykes | |
|---|---|
Omar and the Howlers playing at the Saxon in Austin, Texas | |
| Born | Darryl Kent Dykes January 24, 1950 McComb, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Omar |
| Education | McComb High School, Southwest Junior College, Summit, MS |
| Occupation(s) | Blues guitarist, songwriter and singer |
| Years active | 1963 until present |
| Employer | self employed |
| Known for | blues rock, traditional blues |
| Notable work | Hard Times in the Land of Plenty in 1987 on Columbia Records selling over 500,000 |
| Style | blues |
| Television | Austin City Limits, Arsenio Hall |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Ann Medrano |
| Children | Jacob Henry Dykes |
| Parent(s) | Henry and Chrystine Dykes |
| Awards | Netherlands Edison Award, Summit Street Mississippi Blues Trail Marker, Lifetime Achievement Award Austin Music People, Outstanding Achievements in the Musical Arts from the City of McComb, MS, Lifetime Career Award Bluebird Reviews, Texas Music Hall of Fame |
Omar Kent Dykes (born Darryl Kent Dykes, 1950) is an American blues guitarist songwriter, and singer, living in Austin, Texas.
He began leading bands as an adolescent in McComb, Mississippi.
In 1973 he formed the band, Omar & the Howlers. The band plays electric Texas blues, rock and roll and blues-rock. Dykes has also had a successful career as a solo artist, and regularly toured 49 states in the United States and 23 countries.
Among his 36 albums are Blues Bag from 1991, and Muddy Springs Road from 1994.
An Austin Music Hall of Fame inductee, he was afflicted in 2017 with a skin illness that wasted away the flesh of his arms, and he lost the ability to perform in public. In 2020 he published a memoir, OMAR DYKES: The Life and Times of a Poor and Almost Famous Bluesman. Dykes also wrote two books about his songwriting and recording career entitled Ballad of Old Leather Butt: A Collection of Songs Unsung, and Mississippi Hoo Doo Man: A Collection of Recorded Songs from Big Leg Beat to Muddy Springs Road.