# Jeff "Skunk" Baxter Interview: Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers and Music That Heals (Encore)

An episode of [Takin' A Walk - Music History with Buzz Knight](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594930776), 28 Aug 2026, 37 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/038eec94-1ba4-451d-8945-b08f00e9f877/45291ab0-9215-48e9-9cb7-b4b00105ef79/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=c6860488-b2a0-4069-a6f7-b08f00ea536e

Step into the vibrant Guitar Hero world of music and innovation with this week's encore episode of Takin' a Walk, where host Buzz Knight engages in a captivating encore conversation with the legendary Jeff Skunk Baxter. Known for his iconic work with Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers, Baxter's journey is as eclectic as it is inspiring. From his early days in the bustling Boston music scene to becoming a pivotal figure in the sound of the 70s and 80s, Baxter shares his unique experiences that shaped his career. Buzz Knight dives deep into the music history that surrounds this remarkable artist, exploring the intersection of creativity and technology that defines Baxter’s unusual dual career as a defense consultant. As the episode unfolds, listeners will be treated to inside stories that showcase Baxter's guitar mastery and his collaborations with legendary artists, including the unforgettable Jimi Hendrix. With a focus on the chemistry within bands and the etiquette of musicianship, Baxter recounts his transition from a session player to a full-time member of the Doobie Brothers, revealing the classic rock stories that have influenced generations. But this episode is more than just a trip down memory lane; it’s a profound exploration of music and resilience. Baxter reflects on the healing power of music, emphasizing its emotional impact on people and the deep connections it fosters. His insights into how music can serve as a form of emotional healing resonate throughout the conversation, making this episode a must-listen for anyone interested in the profound effects of sound and creativity. Join Buzz Knight for an inspiring journey filled with inside music stories and the wisdom of a true change agent in both music and technology. Whether you’re a fan of iconic musicians or simply curious about the intersection of art and science, this episode of Takin' a Walk promises to deliver unforgettable moments and enlightening discussions. Tune in to hear how Jeff Skunk Baxter's life and career embody the essence of music history and the creative spirit that continues to inspire us all. </div> Support the show: https://takinawalk.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Taking a Walk.
[0:01] Speaker 2: Hi, everybody, welcome back to the Taking a Walk podcast.
[0:04] Speaker 2: I'm buzz night and we're rolling through Guitar Heroes Month,
[0:08] Speaker 2: and today's conversation is with a guy who has had
[0:12] Speaker 2: so many different versions of careers, Jeff Skunk Baxter, from
[0:17] Speaker 2: his steel guitar work with Steely Dan to helping to
[0:20] Speaker 2: define the sound of the Doobie Brothers with hits like
[0:24] Speaker 2: Long Train Running and Taking It to the Streets. Skunk's
[0:28] Speaker 2: fingerprints are all over some of the most beloved records
[0:32] Speaker 2: of the seventies and eighties. And that's before you even
[0:35] Speaker 2: get into his second act as a defense consultant on
[0:38] Speaker 2: missile systems, which might be the wildest career pivot in
[0:43] Speaker 2: any history. We got into the session player days, the
[0:46] Speaker 2: band hopping, and how this incredible mind of his works
[0:50] Speaker 2: across two completely different worlds. Jeff Skunk Baxter is next
[0:57] Speaker 2: on this encore performance on Guitar Our Heroes Month on
[1:01] Speaker 2: Taking a Walk.
[1:06] Speaker 3: Taking a Walk, I welcome Jeff Skunk Baxter.
[1:10] Speaker 4: Thank you for the kind words, sir, I appreciate thank you.
[1:13] Speaker 3: So you have quite a history in the Boston area.
[1:17] Speaker 2: What was the music scene like when you were roaming
[1:21] Speaker 2: around the mean streets of Boylston Street and the back
[1:25] Speaker 2: bay of Boston.
[1:27] Speaker 4: It was alive and well and it was very eclectic. Boston,
[1:32] Speaker 4: believe it or not, in the whole New England area
[1:34] Speaker 4: had a very large country Western presence. I think part
[1:39] Speaker 4: of it came because the trucks that would come up
[1:42] Speaker 4: ninety five, you know, they'd be listening to WWVA coming
[1:46] Speaker 4: out of West Virginia and they'd be coming up Route
[1:49] Speaker 4: ninety five, and when they get to Boston, they were
[1:51] Speaker 4: looking for, you know, music, and there was a huge
[1:55] Speaker 4: country presence. And then again I actually did some interesting gigs.
[2:02] Speaker 4: I played at a place called Paul's Mall, a jazz workshop.
[2:07] Speaker 4: I was asked to do something called who is this
[2:09] Speaker 4: Guy Gershwin Anyway, which was someone had put together a
[2:15] Speaker 4: wonderful I think it was Jeff Lass who had put
[2:18] Speaker 4: together a wonderful evening of Gershwin songs sung by different
[2:23] Speaker 4: actors and actresses, and the four of us, we had
[2:26] Speaker 4: a four piece band, would play arrangements of the Gershwin stuff.
[2:31] Speaker 4: And we were doing this every night, like five six
[2:33] Speaker 4: nights a week. So besides the rock and roll scene
[2:38] Speaker 4: and the blues scene, which was huge in Boston. There
[2:41] Speaker 4: was a psychedelic supermarket that was again Paul's Mall Jazz Workshop.
[2:46] Speaker 4: There was so many clubs and places to play in Boston.
[2:51] Speaker 4: There was something for everybody.
[2:54] Speaker 2: And that's when you got into really the mechanics of
[2:59] Speaker 2: guitars and the work that you did in the shop
[3:03] Speaker 2: there and everything is that correct.
[3:04] Speaker 4: Well, actually, I grew up in Mexico City, so there
[3:07] Speaker 4: was nobody to repair anything so pretty much. I guess
[3:15] Speaker 4: if you want to figure out which way the electrons go,
[3:17] Speaker 4: you stick a knife into the toaster. You figure that
[3:19] Speaker 4: out pretty quick. And I was an older gentleman who
[3:25] Speaker 4: was a TV radio repairman that I met a Mexican
[3:28] Speaker 4: gentleman who had let me spend some time in his shop,
[3:31] Speaker 4: taught me a few things and the rest of it
[3:34] Speaker 4: was just hunt and peck until I figured it out.
[3:38] Speaker 4: And then I had a little bit of knowledge at
[3:42] Speaker 4: the time, because while I was in Mexico, I was
[3:46] Speaker 4: going to boarding school in Connecticut and my parents. Sometimes
[3:50] Speaker 4: I wouldn't fly home all the way to Mexico City
[3:54] Speaker 4: simply for a short vacation, so I would spend it
[3:56] Speaker 4: in New York City, either working at Jimmy's Music Shop,
[4:00] Speaker 4: or eventually working for Dan Armstrong who was the guru
[4:04] Speaker 4: of guitar customizing, and learned pretty much the bulk of
[4:12] Speaker 4: my knowledge about guitars and especially about guitar electronics, and
[4:16] Speaker 4: so taking that to Boston working with folks at the
[4:20] Speaker 4: U Worldzer and Dave Scheckter and I had our own
[4:25] Speaker 4: guitar shop. Day went on to found Scheckter Guitars, and yeah,
[4:32] Speaker 4: just getting into your right, getting into the ins and
[4:36] Speaker 4: outs of which way the electrons go.
[4:40] Speaker 2: But you've always really had this sort of change agent
[4:44] Speaker 2: approach to whether it be music or other things in life.
[4:48] Speaker 3: When did you discover that you're a change agent?
[4:53] Speaker 4: Wow? I probably didn't understand the term until my dad
[4:57] Speaker 4: explained it to me when I was very young, and
[4:59] Speaker 4: I I didn't really see myself as a change agent.
[5:04] Speaker 4: Many times I saw myself as getting into trouble because
[5:09] Speaker 4: of I guess the idea when I want to do
[5:12] Speaker 4: something else or this is not right. Pardon me for
[5:17] Speaker 4: saying something here. I guess probably in the Boston area
[5:23] Speaker 4: when I started to customize guitars and try to get
[5:28] Speaker 4: guitar players, help them customize their sound and give them
[5:35] Speaker 4: to help them, give them the tools, and some of
[5:38] Speaker 4: the things we did, I mean, were really nuts. I
[5:40] Speaker 4: had a good friend of mine who kept putting cigarettes
[5:46] Speaker 4: up on the headstock of his guitar, you know, while
[5:49] Speaker 4: I was smoking, and they would burn down and they would,
[5:51] Speaker 4: you know, burn the finish on the guitar. So I thought,
[5:55] Speaker 4: that's that's not good. So I hunted around, found one
[5:59] Speaker 4: of those circular apps from a thirty nine Buick and
[6:02] Speaker 4: installed it in his telecaster so he could just have
[6:05] Speaker 4: it out there and put his cigarette there. Why I
[6:07] Speaker 4: was playing, you know, just I guess things like that.
[6:12] Speaker 2: When you were in high school, you worked in New
[6:15] Speaker 2: York at was it Manny's guitar shop, Jimmy's Jimmy's, okay,
[6:20] Speaker 2: and you ran into this other Jimmy there named Jimmy Hendrix.
[6:26] Speaker 3: Is that correct?
[6:27] Speaker 4: Yeah? He was calling himself Jimmy James at the time. Yeah.
[6:32] Speaker 3: And what was your take on him when you first
[6:35] Speaker 3: met him?
[6:36] Speaker 4: Quiet, reserved, thoughtful, introspective, And when I finally got a
[6:45] Speaker 4: chance to hear him play, I was absolutely stunned. But
[6:51] Speaker 4: a very nice guy, really a nice guy is the
[6:55] Speaker 4: wrong word. A very very deep, intense and open and
[7:03] Speaker 4: thoughtful person. Yeah.
[7:06] Speaker 2: I heard him described as sweet by Felix Cavaliery from
[7:11] Speaker 2: the Rascals.
[7:12] Speaker 3: He said sweet was the way he described them.
[7:14] Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah, he had. All he wanted to do was
[7:18] Speaker 4: play music, and he also served in the military. So
[7:23] Speaker 4: it was interesting at the time the rift that was
[7:29] Speaker 4: opening in American society because of the Vietnam War. Certainly
[7:35] Speaker 4: many I would say the bulk of the musicians were
[7:39] Speaker 4: somewhat anti war for good reasons. But Jimmy kept quiet
[7:47] Speaker 4: about it. I didn't discuss it. And I think when
[7:50] Speaker 4: he played his version of the Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock,
[7:56] Speaker 4: he did it because deep down inside he cared about
[7:59] Speaker 4: it country. He was a patriot.
[8:02] Speaker 3: Did you ever get to sit in in him with
[8:04] Speaker 3: him with uh?
[8:04] Speaker 4: I did for a couple of songs, and of course
[8:07] Speaker 4: that blew up into you know, I played with Jimmy Hendry,
[8:10] Speaker 4: but very very, very very and when I say open,
[8:20] Speaker 4: there's something amongst musicians that I call musicians etiquette, where
[8:25] Speaker 4: when you play together, you listen to the other musician.
[8:30] Speaker 4: You don't just jump in, you know, you listen, You
[8:33] Speaker 4: get a feel for what's going on, and you try
[8:35] Speaker 4: to add to the overall experience, not to be a
[8:42] Speaker 4: pun ful here, but to the overall experience. And he
[8:46] Speaker 4: was like that. Certainly he could have held his own
[8:50] Speaker 4: and he could have dominated anything, but for the most
[8:53] Speaker 4: part he was very He had a great amount of etiquette,
[8:58] Speaker 4: music etiquette. I guess I would say.
[9:01] Speaker 2: Has that departed these days? Music etiquette or etiquette in general.
[9:07] Speaker 4: I don't think it's changed all that much. There is
[9:09] Speaker 4: always a group of musicians who feel it necessary to
[9:15] Speaker 4: dominate whatever situation that they're in for whatever reason. That
[9:21] Speaker 4: won't get you very well as far as a studio musician.
[9:24] Speaker 4: We know, we had a saying back in the seventies
[9:27] Speaker 4: when you know, some guy would come into brand New
[9:30] Speaker 4: and he was just, you know, wouldn't shut up, and
[9:33] Speaker 4: you go, hey, man, I really did what you're trying
[9:36] Speaker 4: to do, which was sort of a backhanded you know,
[9:40] Speaker 4: you know, knock it off.
[9:43] Speaker 3: Kind of the equivalent to bless your heart.
[9:45] Speaker 4: Right there you go, that's it, right, that's it.
[9:51] Speaker 3: So tell me the story how you fell into this
[9:54] Speaker 3: work with these guys Becker and Fagan otherwise known as
[10:00] Speaker 3: the Foundation, with you and others of Steely dan Well.
[10:05] Speaker 4: I was working in Boston. I was spending playing in
[10:10] Speaker 4: a bunch of different bands. I was playing bass for
[10:14] Speaker 4: Tim Buckley. I was in the Holy Modal Rounds, which
[10:17] Speaker 4: was the craziest band ever, more fun than anybody should
[10:21] Speaker 4: ever be allowed legally to have. And I was doing
[10:25] Speaker 4: a lot of work in a place called Intermedia Sound
[10:29] Speaker 4: on Newberry Street. And I wasn't the house guitar player
[10:33] Speaker 4: by any means, but because I was spending so much
[10:35] Speaker 4: time there, people would say, Oh, we need a guitar part.
[10:40] Speaker 4: Oh yeah, Skunk's over, Okay, let's you know, he'll come
[10:45] Speaker 4: in and do it. And I was doing something and
[10:47] Speaker 4: I'm trying to remember whether it might have been for
[10:50] Speaker 4: Jonathan Edwards. I wasn't. I don't, I can't quite remember.
[10:53] Speaker 4: But there was a band called The b Game, which
[10:57] Speaker 4: was a Boston based band, wonderful band, great guitar player.
[11:03] Speaker 4: John Sheldon is just one of those musical bands. And
[11:10] Speaker 4: a gentleman named Gary Katz was producing that band, and
[11:14] Speaker 4: I guess he stuck his head in when I was
[11:16] Speaker 4: doing a session with somebody. And later on that day,
[11:20] Speaker 4: so I'm doing a project in New York, would you'd
[11:23] Speaker 4: be willing to come down and work on the project,
[11:25] Speaker 4: and I was doing session work both in Boston and
[11:28] Speaker 4: New York. I was commuting living in Boston, but I
[11:30] Speaker 4: was commuting back and forth, and I said sure, so
[11:35] Speaker 4: I went down there. He introduced me to a wonderful
[11:37] Speaker 4: lady named Linda Hoover who was doing a record in
[11:43] Speaker 4: New York. And a good chunk of the material was
[11:47] Speaker 4: by a pair of songwriters named Walter Becker and Donald Fagan.
[11:53] Speaker 4: And as we started working on the record, I got
[11:56] Speaker 4: to know Walter O'donald a little bit and afterwards said,
[12:00] Speaker 4: you know, we've never heard anybody play guitar quite like that.
[12:04] Speaker 4: I said, well, gentlemen, I've never heard music like this,
[12:09] Speaker 4: And so there was this sort of Okay, whoever gets
[12:12] Speaker 4: their nose under the tent calls everybody else and will
[12:16] Speaker 4: form a band. So Becker and Fagan managed to get
[12:20] Speaker 4: a publishing deal through Gary Katz with ABC Records in
[12:25] Speaker 4: Los Angeles, and I was already moving out there to
[12:29] Speaker 4: play with other bands. Anyway. I was playing Pedal Steel.
[12:33] Speaker 4: Actually was working at the Palamino Club and doing session
[12:37] Speaker 4: work and guitar repair out in Los Angeles. And somehow
[12:44] Speaker 4: or other, after they got the publishing deal, we thought
[12:47] Speaker 4: about putting together a band, and that's how it happened.
[12:51] Speaker 4: They said, do you know any drummers? Said yeah, the
[12:54] Speaker 4: drummer for the Bead Game, Jimmy Hatter. Do you know
[12:57] Speaker 4: any leads singers? Yeah, Palmer and of course Danny Dials
[13:04] Speaker 4: was a friend of theirs as well. So there you go. Wow.
[13:11] Speaker 2: You know, they've recently been unearthing and re releasing a
[13:16] Speaker 2: lot of those midnight specials from Birch Sugar and the
[13:25] Speaker 2: Steely Dan episodes are absolute knockouts. What was your recollection
[13:33] Speaker 2: of how the audience felt about what they were seeing?
[13:37] Speaker 2: Because the performance is spectacular. You had the two ladies
[13:42] Speaker 2: with the flapper hats singing and skunk, you know, just
[13:47] Speaker 2: wailing away. And I mean what I was struck with
[13:50] Speaker 2: For a band that for so long didn't look like
[13:53] Speaker 2: it was always having fun when they were in front
[13:56] Speaker 2: of people, it looked like a lot of fun.
[13:59] Speaker 4: Yeah. First of all, we had a great time, and
[14:03] Speaker 4: the background singers were David Cassidy's background singers and they
[14:07] Speaker 4: were phenomenal, phenomenal singers. Plus Ross Jones who was playing
[14:13] Speaker 4: percussion and also singing backgrounds. Royce would step up to
[14:19] Speaker 4: sing any major dude, and wherever we were immediately turned
[14:26] Speaker 4: into a club. His delivery and his vocal style was
[14:31] Speaker 4: so inviting. This guy was an incredible singer. Everybody was
[14:36] Speaker 4: an amazing musician. And I think there's a bit of
[14:41] Speaker 4: mythology that perhaps was promoted by Walter and Donald that
[14:51] Speaker 4: they didn't like to play live, and that there was
[14:54] Speaker 4: something about that that was less than I can't find
[15:00] Speaker 4: word to describe it, but just wasn't worthy as being
[15:05] Speaker 4: in the studio, And that's really not true. We had
[15:09] Speaker 4: a great time and we were a band, and there's
[15:12] Speaker 4: something about the chemistry between musicians who worked together, certainly
[15:18] Speaker 4: Steely Dan's later works with just Walter O'Donnell. Hiring studio musicians,
[15:26] Speaker 4: of which we were all anyway was excellent. But there
[15:30] Speaker 4: was something special about the chemistry and you could see it,
[15:36] Speaker 4: you could feel it, and I don't know, we were
[15:38] Speaker 4: having a ball. I'm not quite sure what the problem was.
[15:43] Speaker 4: You know, it's the performances are spectacular. Oh my god,
[15:49] Speaker 4: it just knocked me out.
[15:52] Speaker 2: And I've watched it half a dozen times and shown
[15:56] Speaker 2: it to people, and.
[15:58] Speaker 3: You're just blazing on that one for sure.
[16:01] Speaker 4: Well, thank you, sir. I was having a good time.
[16:04] Speaker 1: We'll be right back with more the Taking a Walk podcast.
[16:12] Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Taking a Walk podcast.
[16:15] Speaker 3: So then the Doobie Brothers kind of was flowing.
[16:18] Speaker 2: You were doing session work right with them, and you
[16:22] Speaker 2: were still part of Steely Dan.
[16:24] Speaker 3: But it looked like things were going to kind.
[16:26] Speaker 2: Of go in a direction where Steely Dan would get
[16:30] Speaker 2: off of touring. So was that how you ended up
[16:34] Speaker 2: making the decision to go from session player to full
[16:38] Speaker 2: time Doobie brother.
[16:40] Speaker 4: Well, we had the band Steely Dan. I was also
[16:42] Speaker 4: playing in Linda Rostott's band, playing Steel Pedal Steel and
[16:48] Speaker 4: out touring, which any Rodriguez and you know a bunch
[16:52] Speaker 4: of just all I wanted to do was play. Spent
[16:55] Speaker 4: all my time playing, whether it was in the studio
[16:57] Speaker 4: or with other bands. And Steely Dan was opening for
[17:04] Speaker 4: the Doobie Brothers on a number of concert tours, and
[17:09] Speaker 4: very nice guys. They said, Hey, would you like to
[17:13] Speaker 4: sit in for a couple of songs? Sure, and then
[17:18] Speaker 4: it was four songs, and then it was six songs,
[17:20] Speaker 4: and then it was half the show, and then finally
[17:25] Speaker 4: would you like to go out on tour with us?
[17:27] Speaker 4: I said sure, And so I was touring with them,
[17:31] Speaker 4: touring with Steely Dan, touring with Linda Ronstadt again, I'm
[17:36] Speaker 4: playing with Honey Rodriguez. And I was on tour with
[17:41] Speaker 4: the Doobies in England and we were playing at Nedworth,
[17:45] Speaker 4: the Big Networth Festival, and I talked to the guys
[17:50] Speaker 4: and Steely Done, I talked to Walter and Donald and
[17:53] Speaker 4: they had said, hey, that we're just don't on a
[17:55] Speaker 4: tour anymore. I said, well, okay, I joined touring. I
[18:01] Speaker 4: thought that was fun, and I I again it was
[18:04] Speaker 4: the mythology of well, what's the problem here. So when
[18:09] Speaker 4: I hung up the phone, I said, well, that's kind
[18:10] Speaker 4: of it for me and Steely Dan, and one of
[18:13] Speaker 4: the members of Debi Brothers said, well, now you're in
[18:15] Speaker 4: the Doobie Brothers. Okay, great, thank you, and away we go.
[18:22] Speaker 3: And what's some of your favorite memories from the work
[18:26] Speaker 3: with the Doobie Brothers and how did you bring Michael
[18:28] Speaker 3: McDonald into the band?
[18:31] Speaker 2: Well?
[18:31] Speaker 4: I had great, great memories simply because there was great interaction.
[18:37] Speaker 4: At the time when Tommy was still in the band,
[18:40] Speaker 4: Tommy Johnston, all of us had a pre election for
[18:46] Speaker 4: three guitar players because one of the bands that all
[18:50] Speaker 4: of us admired was Moby Grape. I think they were
[18:53] Speaker 4: probably the best American rock and roll band ever, and
[18:57] Speaker 4: they had three guitar players, and they figured out out
[19:00] Speaker 4: how to do that without creating a traffic jam. I
[19:05] Speaker 4: always said, it's like a three masted schooner and everything's
[19:07] Speaker 4: working just fine. And the three of us playing together
[19:12] Speaker 4: with very different styles, I think, created almost like a
[19:18] Speaker 4: guitar orchestra. So that was tremendous fun. And one day
[19:24] Speaker 4: we were about to perform at Louisiana State University when
[19:31] Speaker 4: Tom got extremely ill. He had an ulcer attack or
[19:35] Speaker 4: something and couldn't go on stage. So I don't know,
[19:41] Speaker 4: sometimes you gotta make a command decision, right, So I
[19:44] Speaker 4: walked out on stage. I said, everybody gonna have their
[19:47] Speaker 4: money back. They're probably I don't know, forty thousand people
[19:50] Speaker 4: there or something, or you can wait ten days and
[19:53] Speaker 4: we'll put on a show. So I got off stage
[19:55] Speaker 4: and said, well, well, okay, so now that I pull
[19:58] Speaker 4: that trigger, we got on the phone call Michael McDonald,
[20:02] Speaker 4: who had been touring with us, and Cheelie Dan. I'm
[20:06] Speaker 4: playing keyboards and singing background and said, Michael, you really
[20:11] Speaker 4: need to do this, This would be great, and he said, Okay,
[20:15] Speaker 4: there's a one way ticket waiting before you at the airport.
[20:18] Speaker 4: Get on playing, come out to New Orleans. So we
[20:21] Speaker 4: rehearsed for eight to ten hours a day for eight
[20:26] Speaker 4: days and went out and played the show, got five
[20:30] Speaker 4: encores and I thought, Okay, maybe I made the right
[20:34] Speaker 4: decision here. I love it.
[20:38] Speaker 3: Talk about your time with Linda Ronstat, What a magical
[20:44] Speaker 3: moments that must have been in your life.
[20:47] Speaker 4: Well, first of all, it's hard. It's hard to describe
[20:50] Speaker 4: Linda as anything but the consummate female vocalist. She didn't
[20:56] Speaker 4: try to be a man. She was. I think her
[21:00] Speaker 4: her idol not idle, but her heroin would have been
[21:05] Speaker 4: Passy Kline. She loved Patsy Kline and we did a
[21:09] Speaker 4: lot of Patsy CLINB songs in the set. She was
[21:13] Speaker 4: very sweet, She wasn't a wallflower. She knew what she wanted.
[21:18] Speaker 4: But she also relied on the talent and the capability
[21:23] Speaker 4: of the musicians in the band. You know John Boyle
[21:26] Speaker 4: and playing keyboards, Richie Heywood on drums, you know Andrew
[21:30] Speaker 4: Gold playing guitar, Bobby Wharford playing a guitar, and polstring guitar.
[21:38] Speaker 4: I mean, what a band. Actually, I think we ended
[21:42] Speaker 4: up sort of leaving Linda's employ because the band was
[21:46] Speaker 4: so powerful, kind of steamroller over once in a while.
[21:51] Speaker 4: But we had a ball because we were again a
[21:56] Speaker 4: unified group of guys. Everybody was pretty much a studio guy,
[21:59] Speaker 4: I mean, and everybody had worked in the studios as
[22:03] Speaker 4: well as their own bands. And Richie Heywood, God, what
[22:06] Speaker 4: a drummer little feet please you know? So uh, everywhere
[22:12] Speaker 4: we played, everyone loved her. It was like I had
[22:19] Speaker 4: never seen anyone walk out or be unhappy at all
[22:23] Speaker 4: with her music, and she was enthralling her her spirit
[22:30] Speaker 4: and her voice really got inside your DNA and it
[22:34] Speaker 4: was beautiful. I mean there were times when I thought
[22:38] Speaker 4: maybe I should just not play and sit back and
[22:40] Speaker 4: enjoy this, but you know, you got Yeah, you gotta play.
[22:44] Speaker 4: I was playing pedal steel in the band.
[22:47] Speaker 3: Did you teach yourself pedal steel?
[22:49] Speaker 4: Yeah? Yes, I didn't. I couldn't find any books, and
[22:54] Speaker 4: I figured, like guitar, you just shed spend the time
[23:00] Speaker 4: listen to everything that you possibly can learn from it.
[23:06] Speaker 4: And because I was repairing guitars and I was also
[23:09] Speaker 4: repairing steel, guitars, so I understand the mechanics of it.
[23:13] Speaker 4: So it helped me. I practice a lot even when
[23:18] Speaker 4: I wasn't playing the instrument. That's what I do when
[23:20] Speaker 4: I play the guitar too. I'll look at the music
[23:23] Speaker 4: and I'll be flying on a plane somewhere and I'll
[23:27] Speaker 4: have learned the song by the time I get there,
[23:29] Speaker 4: because I just practice virtually. And so I spent every
[23:33] Speaker 4: waking minute that I had the time practicing, whether it
[23:37] Speaker 4: was actually on the instrument or in my mind.
[23:41] Speaker 2: I see some guitars in the background. Do you just
[23:44] Speaker 2: pick up guitars all throughout the day and play around.
[23:47] Speaker 4: When I have the time, when I have the time,
[23:50] Speaker 4: and then yeah, there's back there, there she is. You know,
[23:56] Speaker 4: there's my baby right there, my pedal steel. Much love
[24:02] Speaker 4: for that instrument. I think the pedal steel is the
[24:06] Speaker 4: most beautiful instrument in the world. It seems like it
[24:10] Speaker 4: has an uncanny ability to get inside people's DNA. I
[24:16] Speaker 4: did something the other day for MAUI for some to
[24:20] Speaker 4: raise some money, and I did a pedal steel part
[24:24] Speaker 4: on Amazing Grace. I turned around and there were two
[24:28] Speaker 4: ladies in the room and they were like sobbing I went,
[24:33] Speaker 4: did I screw something up? And they were no, It's
[24:37] Speaker 4: just so beautiful. The instrument has a special magic to
[24:44] Speaker 4: it when it's played right.
[24:47] Speaker 2: I would imagine you saw Garcia play pedal steel at
[24:51] Speaker 2: one point and Sneaky Peete played pedal steel.
[24:56] Speaker 4: Oh what a great steel player, Sniki one there was.
[24:58] Speaker 4: That guy was right right out of the out of
[25:02] Speaker 4: the What can I say, the no holds barred for Sneaky.
[25:05] Speaker 2: Absolutely, you're talking about, you know how beautiful the pedal
[25:10] Speaker 2: steel is. And you know we've produced this other podcast.
[25:14] Speaker 2: It's called Music Save Me. It's about music and sort
[25:20] Speaker 2: of the healing forces. Do you believe music is has
[25:25] Speaker 2: healing supernatural powers?
[25:29] Speaker 4: I would have to we would have to have a
[25:33] Speaker 4: separate discussion about the use of the word supernatural. But
[25:37] Speaker 4: other than that, absolutely. What many people don't understand is
[25:44] Speaker 4: why music has such an effect. From a purely physiological
[25:50] Speaker 4: point of view, brain operates on a cocktail of neurotransmitters
[25:58] Speaker 4: oxytocin that's oppressing serotonin. All of these neurotransmitters each trigger
[26:10] Speaker 4: a specific or a set of specific emotions, So when
[26:15] Speaker 4: you mix them in a cocktail, you then have the
[26:20] Speaker 4: opportunity if you can stimulate that secretion of those neurotransmitters,
[26:28] Speaker 4: the opportunity to actually map out and produce emotions in people.
[26:35] Speaker 4: So when you fall in love, mostly you fall in love,
[26:39] Speaker 4: or at least physiologically and biologically you fall in love
[26:44] Speaker 4: because both of you are manufacturing hefty amounts of oxytocin.
[26:50] Speaker 4: They call it the love drug that bonds you to
[26:55] Speaker 4: that other person or binds you, depending on where you're
[26:59] Speaker 4: coming from. So there's no doubt in my mind. And
[27:03] Speaker 4: I've had situations. It's been kind of fun. I've had
[27:06] Speaker 4: crusty guys, you know, marine corps generals, Ah, yeah, whatever.
[27:11] Speaker 4: I said, Okay, man, sit down here. I'm going to
[27:14] Speaker 4: pick up this guitar and I'm going to run you
[27:17] Speaker 4: through a whole spectrum of emotions. And they go, ah,
[27:22] Speaker 4: all right, and by the end of it they're going whoa.
[27:27] Speaker 4: I said, well, this is how this works. The different
[27:30] Speaker 4: combination of frequencies, coherent oscillations that emanate from the instrument
[27:36] Speaker 4: are what stimulate the neurotransmitters in your brain and what
[27:42] Speaker 4: people A lot of people it's not that they don't
[27:44] Speaker 4: understand it, they just never nobody's ever sat down and
[27:47] Speaker 4: explained it to the linearity of frequency from zero to
[27:53] Speaker 4: pure energy somewhat embodied an Einstein's equation and equals mc
[27:58] Speaker 4: squared energy equals mass times the speed of the square
[28:03] Speaker 4: of the speed of light, so that they're one and
[28:05] Speaker 4: the same. Music is just a portion of the spectrum
[28:11] Speaker 4: that stimulates human beings. Why does art stimulate human beings?
[28:16] Speaker 4: Why are the colors in certain combinations so effective. Well,
[28:24] Speaker 4: if you strike the A string on a guitar, it
[28:28] Speaker 4: vibrates at four hundred and forty times a second. In
[28:32] Speaker 4: other words, it goes through four hundred and forty full cycles,
[28:37] Speaker 4: and that we recognize as the note A below middle C.
[28:43] Speaker 4: If you multiply that times two, the harmonic of that
[28:49] Speaker 4: is eight hundred and eighty cycles per second. So you
[28:53] Speaker 4: hear A an octave above that note. Multiply it again.
[28:59] Speaker 4: Every time you go up you get a higher note
[29:03] Speaker 4: an octave above, which is just the physics of it. Well,
[29:07] Speaker 4: you know what happens when you multiply A four forty
[29:10] Speaker 4: times ten of the twenty third power. You know what
[29:13] Speaker 4: the super harmonic is. It's green. The color green. All
[29:19] Speaker 4: that is is the super super harmonic. The frequency four
[29:26] Speaker 4: hundred and forty cycles per second, vibrating millions of times,
[29:31] Speaker 4: So it's all connected, so color, light, sound. When you
[29:39] Speaker 4: go up the frequency scale, and the human being there's
[29:43] Speaker 4: sensor package is only attuned to certain parts of the
[29:45] Speaker 4: frequency spectrum. So after you get past about twenty twenty
[29:50] Speaker 4: five thousand cycles, your ears don't hear anymore. Then you
[29:53] Speaker 4: start to move up the spectrum and all of a
[29:55] Speaker 4: sudden your skin gets warm. Ah, you're in the infrared.
[29:59] Speaker 4: And then if you keep going, you get pass the
[30:01] Speaker 4: infrared into the visible spectrum red, all the way through yellow, green,
[30:08] Speaker 4: and then all the way to blue. Then it disappears
[30:10] Speaker 4: again because your central package is only attuned to a
[30:14] Speaker 4: particular amount, till finally you're ending up with gamma rays,
[30:18] Speaker 4: and you know, billions of frequency, frequency of vibrating a
[30:23] Speaker 4: billions of times a second, and that's where you get
[30:26] Speaker 4: things like the crushing of hydrogen atoms into helium and
[30:34] Speaker 4: releasing tremendous amounts of energy. That's how star works. What
[30:39] Speaker 4: bind seb atomic party goes together, frequency, electromagnetism, it's all
[30:45] Speaker 4: the same. People say, well, how did you get involved
[30:48] Speaker 4: in all this defense stuff? I mean, how do you
[30:50] Speaker 4: know anything about that said, Hey man, radar is just
[30:54] Speaker 4: electric guitar on steroids. Physics is all the same. Once
[30:58] Speaker 4: you understand the physics are all the same. It's beautifully
[31:04] Speaker 4: organized and heuristic.
[31:08] Speaker 3: May I call you doctor Baxter.
[31:10] Speaker 4: No, no, no, no no, I don't deserve that.
[31:14] Speaker 3: Are you still doing defense work or the war college
[31:18] Speaker 3: kind of work? Wargame stuff.
[31:21] Speaker 4: Absolutely, a lot of wargaming, and I mean I can't,
[31:26] Speaker 4: I gotta be careful, but I do a lot of
[31:30] Speaker 4: work that has to do with space and space warfare
[31:36] Speaker 4: and ISR intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, unconventional warfare, things that
[31:44] Speaker 4: are a little to the left or right of conventional thinking.
[31:51] Speaker 4: I think that's why they keep me around.
[31:54] Speaker 3: Let's talk about the work you're doing musically now and
[31:57] Speaker 3: how it excites you, because I know you love being
[32:01] Speaker 3: out there, you know, talking to people and playing in
[32:04] Speaker 3: front of people. But talk about the work now that
[32:08] Speaker 3: you're doing in the studio.
[32:10] Speaker 4: Well. I still do a little bit of studio work.
[32:14] Speaker 4: It's really in my time. It's a time management problem.
[32:19] Speaker 4: Between my day job working for Uncle Sam and going
[32:22] Speaker 4: out and playing. I just don't have a lot of
[32:25] Speaker 4: time to do too many sessions anymore. But the solo project,
[32:32] Speaker 4: I've never done anything like it, and it's been a
[32:36] Speaker 4: delightful journey to go out and play what I want
[32:39] Speaker 4: to play, and working with a tremendous musician, CJ. Vanston,
[32:45] Speaker 4: who was my co producer and we co wrote a
[32:48] Speaker 4: lot of the music on this record, finally gave me
[32:51] Speaker 4: an opportunity, which I had had opportunities before to do
[32:57] Speaker 4: a solo project, but never either had the time or
[33:00] Speaker 4: felt that I really wanted to. But CJ and I
[33:04] Speaker 4: were working on and off in the studio, and I
[33:10] Speaker 4: guess it's like a jar full of pennies. Eventually you
[33:14] Speaker 4: got to roll them up. I mean, you know you're there.
[33:17] Speaker 4: It's full now. So that's kind of what happened with
[33:20] Speaker 4: this solo project. And I'm having a just a ball.
[33:24] Speaker 4: The musicians I'm playing with her, thank God. The drummer
[33:30] Speaker 4: Mark Damien, first call studio guy, younger guy, but in
[33:35] Speaker 4: the pocket, he's an old soul. He plays like he's
[33:40] Speaker 4: an old soul. Our bass player, Hank Horton from Detroit,
[33:45] Speaker 4: his first call bass player, great lead singer, also happens
[33:50] Speaker 4: to be the bass player for the Detroit Symphony. I
[33:53] Speaker 4: mean then our keyboard player CJ obviously you know, producer, composer,
[34:02] Speaker 4: you know, incredible musician. He hasn't been able to be
[34:04] Speaker 4: out with us for a while. So our new keyboard
[34:06] Speaker 4: player is a gentleman named Jay Raymond. Who James Raymond, who, Sorry,
[34:12] Speaker 4: Jay Raymond was the four star general head of Space Force.
[34:15] Speaker 4: I got them all computer. James Raymond is David Crosby's
[34:20] Speaker 4: son and is infused with musical DNA. Frightening keyboard player,
[34:26] Speaker 4: frightening musician. So yeah, I'm just having way more fun
[34:31] Speaker 4: than probably legally allowed playing with these guys. And then
[34:36] Speaker 4: when we play, I get to tell stories because people
[34:40] Speaker 4: seem to want to hear as it seems that as
[34:43] Speaker 4: you and I are having our discussion here, they want
[34:46] Speaker 4: to hear stories. They want to hear the next songs
[34:51] Speaker 4: of things. They want to know how people interacted and
[34:54] Speaker 4: where things come from. So we're just having too much fun.
[35:00] Speaker 2: I want to ask you if there's anybody that dead
[35:05] Speaker 2: or alive that you could have had a studio session with.
[35:09] Speaker 2: Who Who would these people be?
[35:12] Speaker 4: It's hard to say, because I've had a chance to
[35:18] Speaker 4: play with everybody from Oscar Peterson to Gene Simmons. You know,
[35:23] Speaker 4: I'd have to think about that, and I'm I'm not
[35:26] Speaker 4: trying to be disingenuous. I've been pretty lucky to play
[35:29] Speaker 4: with the folks that I want. I guess one guy
[35:33] Speaker 4: I would have loved to play with was Manita Seplata,
[35:38] Speaker 4: the classical guitar player. That guy has some something, some
[35:47] Speaker 4: magic karma, halo energy or something or other. I would
[35:53] Speaker 4: have loved to been able to be inside that energy field.
[35:58] Speaker 4: But I've been pretty lucky guy to play with a
[36:01] Speaker 4: lot of great folks.
[36:04] Speaker 2: Well, I'm pretty lucky to get to talk to you,
[36:07] Speaker 2: and I can't tell you the joy of the music
[36:10] Speaker 2: that you continue to give us is so appreciated. And
[36:16] Speaker 2: the Taking a Walk Podcast is proud to have you on.
[36:20] Speaker 2: If anybody wants to share this with all their gazillion friends,
[36:25] Speaker 2: we would really love that we're available everywhere you get
[36:30] Speaker 2: your podcasts. But Jeff skunk Back starts an honor to
[36:34] Speaker 2: talk to you, and thanks for being on Taking a Walk.
[36:37] Speaker 4: Thank you very much for your hospitality.
[36:41] Speaker 2: I'm Buzznight and thanks for listening to the Taking a
[36:44] Speaker 2: Walk Podcast. Now, please check out our companion podcasts produced
[36:49] Speaker 2: by Buzznight Media. Productions with your host Lynn Hoffman music
[36:53] Speaker 2: save Me, showcasing the healing power of music, and comedy
[36:57] Speaker 2: Save Me shining a light on how after is the
[37:00] Speaker 2: best medicine. All shows are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
[37:06] Speaker 2: and are part of the iHeart podcast network.

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