Wednesday 13
American musician
Joseph Michael Poole (born August 12, 1976), better known by his stage name Wednesday 13, is an American singer and musician. Apart from his solo career, he was the frontman of the horror punk/glam metal band Murderdolls and has also played in several other bands, including Maniac Spider Trash, Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13, Bourbon Crow, and Gunfire 76.
Career
Psycho Opera and Maniac Spider Trash
Joe Poole's musical career began in 1992 when he played guitar in his first band Mizery, which was later renamed Psycho Opera. Other members included Ray Franks (guitar), Michael Patrick (bass guitar), Jeff Washam (drums), and Todd Cage (vocals). Soon after, Poole moved on to being the vocalist for Maniac Spider Trash with Ray Franks (guitar), Michael Patrick (bass guitar), and Doug McCollum (drums). Poole fronted the band from 1992 to 1996. The band released a 6-song cassette called Dumpster Mummies in 1994 under the fictitious record label, Dead/Hell Records. In 1995, the band also recorded a full-length album called Murder Happy Fairytales. The band broke up before the album saw an official release. Many years later, in 2010, Joe Poole and Ray Franks worked together for a CD release of Dumpster Mummies and a digital release of Murder Happy Fairytales.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Wednesday 13” is american musician. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Wednesday, American and musician, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “american musician” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q538634. VIAF identifies the subject as 80018721. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1976, 1992, 1996 and 1994.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Wednesday 13”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Wednesday 13 primary sources, Wednesday 13 archive and Wednesday research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Wednesday 13”?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Wednesday 13” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.