Omar & The Howlers

Omar & the Howlers

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Omar & the Howlers

Omar & the Howlers is a Texas based electric blues and blues rock band,[1] formed in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in 1973 by the blues guitarist and singer Omar Kent Dykes.[2] Three years later they moved to Austin, Texas.[2] The band has regularly toured European countries.[3][4][5]

Early years

Dykes grew up in McComb, Mississippi, began playing the guitar at age 7 and joined his first band at 12. In his 20s, he gathered a group of musicians who started calling themselves 'the Howlers'.[2] They specialized in frat parties and were a party band, playing music that included both "R&B, R&R and even the occasional polka and western swing tune".[6] Dykes has said he remembers these days fondly. It was around this time that he started calling himself Omar and developed his penchant for the blues.

In 1976, the Howlers relocated to Austin, Texas,[2] at the time sporting a bustling music scene, home to such up-and-coming artists as Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Johnson. After a year of gigging in Austin, the rest of the band quit, feeling that they were not cut out to play music full-time. As they headed back to Mississippi, Dykes stayed and kept the name. He worked out a new lineup, and recorded the debut album Big Leg Beat for Stomp Records in 1980, just after fellow Austin band The Fabulous Thunderbirds.[6] The record was a local hit and was followed by, I Told You So.

Success

It was not until 1987, however, when Dykes signed a recording contract with Columbia, that the band would succeed. That year saw the release of Hard Times in the Land of Plenty, that went on to sell in excess of 500,000 copies.[6] The band now consisted of Dykes singing and playing the guitar, Bruce Jones on bass and Gene Brandon on drums.

Since then, Omar & the Howlers has released around twenty successful albums, both for Columbia and Provogue Records, as well as their current record label, Ruf Records.

Band members

  • Omar Dykes - vocals, guitar
  • Bruce Jones - bass
  • Gene Brandon - drums (died, January 8, 2014)
  • Stephen Bruton - guitar
  • Paul Junior - bass
  • Steve Kilmer - drums
  • Mark Hallman - percussion
  • Gary Pimrich - harmonica
  • Nick Connolly - organ

Discography

  • Big Leg Beat (1980)
  • I Told You So (1984)
  • Hard Times in the Land of Plenty (1987)
  • Wall of Pride (1988)
  • Monkey Land (1990)
  • Live at the Paradiso (1992)
  • Courts of Lulu (1992)
  • Blues Bag (1992) - Omar solo
  • Muddy Springs Road (1995)
  • World Wide Open (1995)
  • Southern Style (1995)
  • Swingland (1998)
  • Live at the Opera House: Austin, Texas - August 30, 1987 (2000)
  • The Screamin' Cat (2000)
  • Big Delta (2001)
  • Boogie Man (2004)
  • Bamboozled: Live in Germany (2006)
  • Omar Kent Dykes and Jimmy Vaughan: On The Jimmy Reed Highway (2007)
  • Big Town Playboy - Omar Dykes with Friends (2009)
  • Essential Collection (2012)
  • Just a Little Bit More - Gary Primich with Omar Kent Dykes (2012)
  • I'm Gone (2012)
  • Too Much Is Not Enough (2012)

References

  1. Du Noyer, Paul (2003). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music, 1st, Fulham, London: Flame Tree Publishing.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues - From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray, p. 151152, Dubai: Carlton Books Limited.
  3. (Danish) "Forårsprogram 2005 – PÅSKEBAL - OMAR and the Howlers og TopNudge som opvarmning! Påskesøndag 27. marts" – brovstmusik.dk (Retrieved on April 18, 2008)
  4. (Norwegian) "Billetter igjen, men vær rask ute" – Karmsund Avis (28.06.06) (Retrieved on April 18, 2008)
  5. (Norwegian) "Omar topper bluesfestivalen" – Østlandets Blad (31.05.2007) (Retrieved on April 18, 2008)
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Official homepage (Retrieved on 2008-04-18)

External links

  • Official website
  • The Russian Music Info Pages by Oleg_Spb
This page was last modified 10.01.2014 21:23:35

This article uses material from the article Omar & the Howlers from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.