Unquestionably one of the rock/pop world's leading guitarists, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter also has a life story so unusual it recalls the title of Alton Delmore's autobiography, “Truth is Stranger Than Publicity.” Born in Washington D.C., but raised partly in Mexico City, partly in a Connecticut prep school and partly in late '60s Boston, Baxter was delivering amps to a session in New York City when the guitarist didn't arrive. He grabbed a guitar then and thus, at age 16 began a recording career that has spanned over 55 years and continues to this day.
After stints with Tim Buckley, The Holy Modal Rounders and Ultimate Spinach, in 1972 he attracted his first notoriety, as a founding member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducted Steely Dan, delivering scintillating and sizzling guitar licks to such legendary tracks as "Do It Again", "My Old School" and "Rikki, Don't Lose That Number.”
He joined the Hall of Fame inductees The Doobie Brothers in 1974, later bringing Michael McDonald to the band and helping that group craft such enduring treasures as "Takin' It To The Streets", "It Keeps You Runnin'" and "What A Fool Believes".
During the ‘70s, '80s, '90s and 2000+, he continued his high-level session work, contributing key guitar and pedal steel work to recording projects by Ringo Starr, Joni Mitchell, Bryan Adams, Freddie Hubbard, John Cougar Mellencamp, Cher, Rod Stewart, Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton, Julio Iglesias, Barbara Streisand, Harry Nilsson, Gene Simmons, Elton John, Carly Simon, Donna Summer, The Ventures, Edgar Winter and The Beach Boys, (to name a few), as well as touring with Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers, Julian Lennon and Linda Ronstadt.
As producer, he can count projects with artists like Carl Wilson, Nazareth, Billy & The Beaters, (#1 single “At This Moment”), Nils Lofgrin and the Stray Cats among his accomplishments.
As a composer, he co-wrote and produced the original theme for “Beverly Hills 90210”, as well as composing, performing and producing score for a number of TV and movie projects including “King of the Hill”, “Class of 1984”, (with Lalo Schifrin), “Roxanne” and “Bull Durham.”
He composed and produced jingles for a number of major brands, including Wrangler Jeans, Johnny Walker, Motorola, Southern Comfort and Mitsubishi Audio Products and performed as a session musician for countless others.
In 2022 he achieved on of those life goals and released his first solo recording "Speed of Heat". His first tour as band leader took place in the Spring and Summer of 2022 was successful and he was invited to perform in Japan in August of that year. On "Speed of Heat" he sings (a rare occurence) on the Steely Dan staple "My Old School", which makes sense since he used to do the vocals when Steely Dan did live shows. Guest voaclists and writers include Michael McDonald (My Place In The Sun), Clint Black (Bad Move) and Johnny Lang (I Can Do Without).
Through all this he has earned numerous Gold and Platinum albums, two Grammys and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2020, in the process. He was also a consultant with AKAI Digital as their Senior Technical Advisor, and held consulting positions with Gibson, Bedell Guitars, Fender, Epiphone, Audio-Technica, D’Angelico Guitars and has been with Roland Corp for over 40 years, involved in on-going design/consulting work on numerous Roland and Boss products including the first commercially successful Guitar Synthesizer and its progeny. He continues to pursue his career as a guitarist, producer, engineer, composer and technical consultant and has no intention of slowing down.
