Joseph Poole
, better known as Wednesday 13
(born August 12, 1976), is a rock musician from Charlotte, North Carolina. He is most famous for his role as the frontman of the Murderdolls. He has also played in several other bands, including Psycho Opera, Maniac Spider Trash, the Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13, Wednesday 13, Bourbon Crow and most recently Gunfire 76.
Poole currently resides in Landis, North Carolina, where he lives with his wife Roxanne (Mrs. 13) and his daughter Zoie. Poole is a huge fan of campy horror movie parodies and mildly macabre TV shows such as The Munsters
and The Addams Family
(the latter being the source of his "Wednesday" moniker), which influence his tongue-in-cheek lyrics. He also created a set of cartoon characters with his wife called the Thirteen Dead Kids
, which was released as a clothing line. A book was supposed to be released, though this was halted due to Poole's touring schedule and the lack of publisher.
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WEDNESDAY 13 TICKETS
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Musical career
Psycho Opera and Maniac Spider Trash
Poole's musical career began in 1992 when he played guitar in the band Mizery which later became Psycho Opera which featured guitarist
Abby Normal, drummer Jeff Washam, bassist Michael Patrick and lead vocalist Todd Cage. Poole left the band to form
Maniac Spider Trash as lead vocalist alongside Abby Normal (again on guitar) and Michael Patrick (also filling his earlier role as bassist), they were joined by
Sicko Zero on drums. Poole
fronted the band from 1992 through 1996. The band released one
EP entitled
Dumpster Mummies
on Dead Hell Records in 1994. This was followed by an album titled
Murder Happy Fairytales in 1995 which remains unreleased. The band then disbanded.
Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13
Poole went on to form the
Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13, which included Maniac Spider Trash's guitarist and drummer; Abby Normal and Sicko Zero, respectively. The band featured several different guitarists, bassists and drummers over the years leaving Poole to continue as the only original member. Sicko Zero was the last member to quit the band. Shortly after Poole was forced to form another line up before joining The Murderdolls. Poole not only formed FDQ, he also wrote and produced every album.
Between 1996 and 2002, the Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13 released five
studio albums and six
EPs with various revolving members. They were also featured on
tribute albums for
Alice Cooper, and
Sweet. Poole stopped perfroming as FDQ in 2002 when Poole joined
Murderdolls.
Murderdolls
Poole was contacted by
Joey Jordison of
Slipknot with the intention of joining Jordison's new band,
Murderdolls. Originally formed as a collaboration between Jordison and
Tripp Eisen of
Static-X, Poole was revealed as the driving force of the band after he switched from bass guitar duties to lead vocalist and frontman.
The Muderdolls released one EP in 2002,
Right to Remain Violent, to promote their forthcoming album of the same year,
Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls. Most of the songs on the album were rerecorded versions of songs by Poole's previous band, the
Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13. A total of two singles were released from the
LP including a cover of
Billy Idol's
White Wedding. The album reached #40 on the UK album chart.
Murderdolls played their last show on January 17, 2004 in Corona, California. After this they went on an indefinite hiatus with Jordison returning to
Slipknot. Since this hiatus begun, both Poole and Jordison have maintained that the band have not split up for good, and that they would return to record a second album together in the future.
Wednesday 13
After Murderdolls began their hiatus, Poole began performing in a solo band, under the "
Wednesday 13" moniker, and with the help of fellow musicians
Piggy D formerly of
Amen, Kid Kid and Ghastly. He released his first solo album,
Transylvania 90210: Songs of Death, Dying, and the Dead
during summer 2005.
In early 2006, Piggy D, Kid Kid and Ghastly left Wednesday 13 to pursue other endeavors after recording their parts in Transylvania 90210...'s successor,
Fang Bang. The album was first released in Europe on August 12, 2006, then released worldwide a month later.
In May 2006, the Poole's
Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13 announced their reunion, which was followed by a tour with one of Poole's idols, Alice Cooper, and a
box set of the band's complete discography, entitled
Little Box of Horrors
. The band featured Sicko Zero on drums and former FDQ guitarist Abby Normal on bass. The band broke up once again shortly after the box set was released.
In February 2008, a Wednesday 13
DVD, titled
Weirdo A-Go-Go
, was released by Poole. This was followed months later by the band's third studio album,
Skeletons
, as well as a complimentary EP entitled
Bloodwork
, which were each self-released on April 29, 2008.
On the final day of recording the 'Skeletons" album, Poole was involved in a traffic accident which sent his vehicle flipping five times, breaking his collarbone (photos of the smashed vehicle are shown in the booklet to the Skeletons album). This event caused Poole to have to cancel the planned tour of Texas with
Bourbon Crow, his
Outlaw country themed side-project, and the dates were not rescheduled. The Wednesday 13 tours following the accident from October 2007 - May 2008 featured Poole purely as lead vocalist as his injury prevented him from playing guitar. The UK Skeletons tour was 13's return to his dual role in the band.
In October 2008, Wednesday 13 released their first Live CD/DVD entitled
Fuck It, We'll Do It Live
.
Bourbon Crow
Since 2005 Poole, under the Alias of Buck Bourbon, has also maintained an
outlaw country side project:
Bourbon Crow, which features former Wednesday 13 bassist Rayen Belchere (Kid Kid) under the alias of Jessie Crow.
The band released their first album in 2006, titled
Highway to Hangovers, and their second album Long Way To The Bottom was released in 2009.
Gunfire 76
Poole has been writing with
Todd Youth to record a CD that will have more of a rock sound,
[1] they will enter the studio on July 1 to begin recording with his new band, Gunfire 76.
[2] They have uploaded a rough mix of their song Casualties & Tragedies onto the bands myspace on August 12th 2009 for the fans to get an idea of what the band sounds like.
[2]
Discography
Maniac Spider Trash
- 1994: Dumpster Mummies
- 1995: Murder Happy Fairytales
Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13
- 1996: The Late, Late, Late Show
- 1998: Night of the Living Drag Queens
- 2000: Songs From The Recently Deceased
- 2001: Viva Las Violence
- 2004: 6 Years, 6 Feet Under the Influence
- 2006: Little Box of Horrors
Murderdolls
- 2002: Right To Remain Violent
- 2002: Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls
Wednesday 13
- 2005: Transylvania 90210: Songs of Death, Dying, and the Dead
- 2006: Fang Bang
- 2008: Skeletons
- 2008: Bloodwork
- 2008: Fuck It, We'll Do It Live
Bourbon Crow
- 2006: Highway to Hangovers
- 2009: Long Way To The Bottom
Filmography
- 2008: Weirdo A Go-Go
- 2008: Fuck It, We'll Do It Live
Tours
Continuing the horror comedy theme, the tours Poole headlines often sport humorous names:
Date
| Tour name
| Regions
| Named support
|
March - October 2004:
| Wednesday 13's Graveyard a Go-Go
| United States Europe
| Engerica
|
November 2004:
| Look What the Bats Dragged in
| Europe
|
|
April 2005:
| 13's April Ghouls
| United States Europe
| The 69 Eyes
|
April - May 2005:
| ''From Here to Horrorwood US'
| United States
| Deadstar Assembly
|
May - June 2005:
| European Tour (Festivals)
| Europe
|
|
September 2005:
| 6 Feet Down Under
| Australia
|
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September - October 2005:
| Damned in Japan
| Japan
|
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October 2005:
| Haunted Halloween
| United States
| King of Creeps, Alice Cooper
|
November 2005:
| Tour from the Crypt
| Europe
|
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July - October 2006:
| Till Death Do Us Party World
| United States Europe
| Sign, Betty Curse
|
January - February 2007:
| Wednesday 13's American Werewolves
| United States
| Vains of Jenna
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March - May 2007:
| Wednesday 13's European Werewolves
| Europe
|
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June - July 2007:
| MonsTour
| United States
|
|
October 2007:
| Ghouls on Parade
| United States
| Trashlight Vision, AntiProduct
|
November 2007:
| U.K. Fan Bang
| Europe
| McQueen
|
January - March 2008:
| All American Massacre
| United States
| The AKA's, Creature Feature
|
May - November 2008:
| SkeleTour
| United States Europe
| Sign
|
Feb - March 2009:
| For Those About to Rot
| United States
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|
March 2009:
| March of the Damned
| Japan Europe
| Glamour Of The Kill, The Chelsea Smiles
|
References
- Wednesday 13's Official Myspace Blog
- Gunfire 76 Official Myspace
- Gunfire 76 Official Myspace