New evidence suggests that Gene Palmer—the Clinton Correctional Facility guard who allegedly accepted paintings by allegedly big-dicked murderer Richard Matt as payment for aiding Matt’s escape alongside David Sweat—has spent years indulging his own artistic inclinations in addition to those of convicted felons. Just like Orange Is the New Black’s Joe Caputo, Palmer played guitar in a shitkickin’ bar band on the weekends.

Palmer was arrested this week for his alleged role in the escape plot, which involved providing a screwdriver and needle-nose pliers to the escaped inmates. Before that, he could be seen with The “Just Us” Band, shredding Deep Purple and Poison covers at the likes of Fuzzy Ducks, Morrisonville, N.Y.’s hardest-rocking drinking establishment.

A tipster sent us Palmer’s band’s website, which includes a robust schedule of shows and a rousing live rendition of “Smoke on The Water.” Get on down, Gene.

Compare that to Sideboob, Caputo’s band.

According to the Daily Mail, Palmer was a well-liked guy around Dannemora, the upstate town that’s home to Clinton Correctional. As evidence of his good character, the Mail cites his relationship with his wife: she wanted a divorce because she didn’t want to burden him with her worsening multiple sclerosis; he refused, taking a new girlfriend but continuing to financially support his spouse. Hmm.

‘Gene is one hell of a guy,’ a relative of his wife Laurie Palmer told Daily Mail Online. ‘I cannot speak highly enough of him.’

Gene and Laurie split more than 10 years ago after her multiple sclerosis worsened, according to several relatives. ‘She didn’t want to burden him,’ said one.

But Gene refused to divorce her and gave her the three-bedroom, two-bathroom house in Plattsburgh where they lived. He continues to pay her health insurance premiums too.

Palmer admitted to authorities that he provided the tools to Matt and Sweat, but insisted that he didn’t know the pair was planning an escape. He faces charges of promoting prison contraband, tampering with evidence, and official misconduct. If he’s convicted, they may be able to take his freedom—but they’ll never take away the riffs surging through his big ol’ heart.

Images via Just Us Band. Contact the author at andy@gawker.com.