[3][4][5] Led by singer/guitarist Omar Dykes, they are best known for the 1987 album Hard Times in the Land of Plenty which sold over half a million copies and whose title song was a top 20 hit in America.

Omar Kent Dykes grew up in McComb, Mississippi, began playing the guitar at age 12 and started his first band at 13.

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.

[6] The band now consisted of Dykes singing and playing guitar, Bruce Jones on bass, and Wes Starr on drums.