Anthony Joseph "Joe" Genaro (born October 15, 1962 in

Wagontown, Pennsylvania Wagontown is an unincorporated community in West Caln Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. Wagontown is located along Pennsylvania Route 340, north-northwest of Coatesville. Wagontown has a post office with ZIP code 19376. The ...

) is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

and co- lead vocalist for the punk rock group

The Dead Milkmen The Dead Milkmen is an American punk rock band formed in 1983 in Philadelphia. Their original lineup consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Rodney Linderman ("Rodney Anonymous"), guitarist and vocalist Joe Genaro ("Joe Jack Talcum"), bassist D ...

. Residing in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Genaro has performed with a number of punk and

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

groups, most recently including The Low Budgets, and is also a solo artist.

Career

With the Dead Milkmen (1983–1995)

The Dead Milkmen formed in 1983, evolving out of a home-recording project with a mythological back story that Genaro had begun in 1979. The members of the group regularly employed pseudonyms, and Genaro most frequently called himself "Joe Jack Talcum" (stemming from the character of Jack Talcum that Genaro had imagined as the leader of the band in their mythology) in the context of the group, although he also used the pseudonyms "Butterfly Fairweather" and "Jasper Thread" on certain records. The band's debut LP, ''

Big Lizard in My Backyard ''Big Lizard in My Backyard'' is the debut album by the Dead Milkmen, released by Restless Records in 1985. Although the album yielded no singles, it achieved enough notoriety to create a fan base for the band. Five of the album's tracks appear ...

'', was released in 1985, and their initial twelve-year career saw some college radio and MTV success, notably surrounding singles "Bitchin' Camaro" (1986) and "Punk Rock Girl" (1988). Genaro acted as the group's guitarist, co-lead vocalist and co-songwriter, and occasionally played keyboards and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

. The band disbanded in 1995.

As a solo artist (1984–present)

Genaro has consistently recorded solo material since the early 1980s. Between 1984 and 1999, he self-released eight cassette tapes composed of home recorded songs. The four-piece group Butterfly Joe, named after one of Genaro's pseudonyms and featuring Dead Milkmen

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer' ...

Dean Sabatino, assembled to perform Genaro's solo material. They released a self-titled, full-length album on Razler Records in 1999, but went on indefinite hiatus shortly thereafter. In 2005, the

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

-based Valiant Death label released a CD of material from Genaro's cassettes, ''Home Recordings 1984–1997''. Under the name Joe Jack Talcum, he released ''Photographs from the Shoebox'', a split LP/CD with

Mischief Brew Mischief Brew was an American folk punk band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania consisting of vocalist and guitarist Erik Petersen, bassist Shawn St. Clair, and drummers Christopher Petersen and Christopher Kulp. The band played DIY folk punk and a ...

, in 2008 on Fistolo Records. The next year, his ''Live in the Studio'' album was released on CD and digital download formats. This record featured Genaro backed by a drummer and slide guitar/

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

player. Genaro also frequently tours behind his solo material.

Other projects (1987–present)

Other groups with whom Genaro has played include Ornamental Wigwam (circa 1987, a two-piece with Dead Milkmen bassist Dave Schulthise), Touch Me Zoo (1990–1997), The Town Managers (1996–2000), The Fresh Breaths (2000), The Low Budgets (2000–2008), Ukebox (circa 2006) and No! Go! Tell! (2009). Generally a guitarist, Genaro has also played

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

(in the cases of the Town Managers and Ukebox) and organ (in the case of the Low Budgets) in these bands. He has also formed a large number of home recording-based groups, including Jiffy Squid (circa 1993), We're Not From Idaho (circa 1995), Sock (1993–1998) and The Cheesies (circa 2003–present).

Dead Milkmen reformation (2004, 2008–present)

After the 2004 death of Schulthise, the three surviving members of The Dead Milkmen reunited for two concerts, joined by Low Budgets bassist

Dan Stevens Daniel Jonathan Stevens (born 10 October 1982) is a British actor and writer. He first drew international attention for his role as List of Downton Abbey characters#Matthew Crawley, Matthew Crawley in the ITV (TV network), ITV acclaimed period ...

. In 2008, the band properly reformed with Stevens as a full-time member, and began performing sporadic concerts and working on new material, resulting in the 2011 album '' The King in Yellow''.

Discography

;Compact disc and vinyl albums *Butterfly Joe – self-titled (CD, Razler Records, 1999) *Joe Jack Talcum – ''Home Recordings 1984–1997'' (CD, Valiant Death Records, 2005) *Joe Jack Talcum – ''Photographs from the Shoebox'' (split LP/CD with

, Fistolo Records, 2008) *Joe Jack Talcum – ''Live in the Studio'' (CD, 2009) *Joe Jack Talcum – ''Acoustic Fury Records Split Series Vol. 4'' (split CD with

Ratboy ''Ratboy'' is a 1986 American drama film directed by and starring Sondra Locke. The make-up effects were designed by Rick Baker. The film's scenario is at times comic or serious, and one of its peculiarities is that there never is any explanation ...

, Acoustic Fury Records, 2009) ;Vinyl EPs *The Town Managers – self-titled (7", Shredder Records, 1997) *The Town Managers – ''We're The Ghettoest'' (7", Marigold Records, 1998) ;Solo home-recorded cassette tapes *Joe Jack Talcum – ''I See Weasels'' (1984) *Joe Jack Talcum – ''Raising PG Kids'' (1987) *Jasper Thread – ''Blackness'' (1989) *Butterfly Fairweather – ''Halvin' My Baby'' (1990) *Butterfly Joe – ''Smile'' (1993) *Butterfly Joe – '' Sweet 'N Low'' (1995) *Joe Jack Talcum – ''The Bland Years'' (1997) *Jack Talcum Jr. – ''Turd of the Century'' (1999) ;Home-released cassette tapes with groups *Touch Me Zoo – ''Radio Songs'' (1991) *Touch Me Zoo – self-titled (1992) *Touch Me Zoo – ''Wonderwear Music'' (1993) *Sock – ''Staring at People Staring at Trash'' (1993) *Jiffy Squid – self-titled (1993) *Touch Me Zoo – ''Moon Dog Will Die'' (1994) *We're Not From Idaho – self-titled (1994) *Touch Me Zoo – ''Lawn King'' (1995) *Drink Draft / Rhino Chasers – self-titled (1996) *Jiffy Squid – self-titled album (1996) *Touch Me Zoo – ''Blow Up Your Stereo'' (1996) *The Town Managers – ''Dummo'' (1996) *Touch Me Zoo – ''Ultra-Rare TMZ Vol. 1'' (1997) *Touch Me Zoo – ''Ultra-Rare TMZ Vol. 2'' (1997) *Touch Me Zoo – ''Ultra-Rare TMZ Vol. 3'' (1997) *Sock – ''Demented Songs For Youngsters'' (1998) *The Cheesies – ''Pull The Brie'' (2003) *The Headaches – ''Christmas Album'' (2003) *The Headaches – ''New Year's Eve with The Headaches'' (2004) *The Headaches – ''Groundhogs Day'' (2004) *The Headaches – ''Friday the 13th Album'' (2004) *The Headaches – ''Mexican Independence Day'' (2004)