Omar Kent Dykes


Omar Kent Dykes is an American blues guitarist songwriter, and singer, living in Austin, Texas. His parents, Henry and Chrystine Dykes, supported him in his career from the time Omar was a young boy.
He began leading bands as an adolescent in his birthplace of 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.
Awards include the Netherlands Edison Award, Summit Street Mississippi Blues Trail Marker, Lifetime Achievement Award from Austin Music People, Outstanding Achievements in the Musical Arts from the City of McComb, Mississippi, Lifetime Career Award Bluebird Reviews, and a Texas Music Hall of Fame inductee.
Dykes 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.

Discography

Big Leg Beat I Told You So Hard Times in the Land of Plenty Wall of Pride Monkey Land Blues Bag Live at Paradiso Courts of Lulu Muddy Springs Road World Wide Open Southern Style Swing Land Live at the Opera House: Austin, Texas - August 30, 1987 The Screamin' Cat Big Delta Boogie Man Bamboozled: Live in Germany On The Jimmy Reed Highway Big Town Playboy Essential Collection 2CDI'm Gone Too Much is Not Enough Running With the Wolf
  • "Too Raw For Radio"
  • "The Kitchen Sink"
  • "Zoltar's Walk" Classic Live Performances 1990s vol. 1 Classic Live Performances 1990s vol. 2 Classic Live Performances 1990s vol. 3 Classic Live Performances 1990s vol. 4
  • "What's Buggin' You?"
  • "Magic Man"
  • "Uneasy Listening"
  • "Aggressive Country"
  • "Rhythm and Western"