Papa Joe is a singer/songwriter in the folk/humor tradition of Tom Paxton, Tom Lehrer and John Prine. He performs mostly in coffeehouses and festivals in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area. When he's not performing or attending hootenannys, Papa Joe (aka Joe Kretschmer) lives in blissful obscurity in the little college town of Oxford, Ohio, about 30 miles north of Cincinnati. He is an officer in the Queen City Balladeers, a folk music organization founded at the University of Cincinnati over 40 years ago. During the school year, he emcees shows at the Leo Coffeehouse, the Balladeers' official venue for folk and acoustic artists. Papa Joe plays guitar, banjo, harmonica and kazoo. He prefers small-scale instruments, like his Tacoma Papoose guitar, and his short-neck banjo. His harmonicas are full-size, however, as is his kazoo. [Photo by Greg Buening]