THE Deep Blues Club will be welcoming favourite acts Errol Linton, Bill Sheffield and Mojo Buford in its summer programme, but first comes the springtime York debut of "undoubtedly one of the biggest blues acts in the world today".

Omar and The Howlers play the Post Office Club, in Marygate, on Tuesday, when doors open at 8pm and admission is £9 or £8 for concessions and CIU members.

Kent 'Omar' Dykes hails from McComb, Mississippi, a town with the curious distinction of being home turf for both Bo Diddley and Britney Spears. Omar grew up in the heart of blues country, his household being filled with the music of Jimmy Reed, Memphis Slim, Howlin' Wolf and Creedence Clearwater Revival.

He began playing the guitar at seven and by the age of 12 he was hanging out at black juke joints on the outskirts of town, jamming and absorbing the blues, R&B and soul.

"I played in a band when I was 13 and the next youngest guy was 50," Omar recalls. "We played some rough joints; we called them gun-and-knife clubs. If you were tough enough to be in there, you were old enough."

He formed the first incarnation of The Howlers in the early 1970s, then relocated to Austin, Texas, and now performs 150 shows a year with Barry Bihm on bass and Kevin Hall on drums.

Updated: 16:05 Thursday, April 07, 2005