Jeff "Skunk" Baxter is almost as well known these days for his activity as a defense consultant as he is for his guitar work with super groups Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers. Since the events of 9/11 he has been busier than ever with military issues and has been spending less time with music. However, his guest appearance on a new album by the Yardbirds, along with a trip to South by Southwest in Austin (3/12-3/16) to conduct a workshop and perform with the Yardbirds, is focusing his attention back on music.

The Yardbirds, with Baxter on guitar, will be showcasing their new Birdland album on Thursday (3/13) at midnight at Austin Music Hall. The new Yardbirds include original members drummer Jim McCarty and guitarist Chris Dreja. The new CD, released on Steve Vai's Favored Nations label, features Baxter on "The Nazz Are Blue." Their all-star guest guitarist list also includes former Yardbird Jeff Beck, Brian May, Steve Vai, Slash, Joe Satriani and Steve Lukather.

The workshop, scheduled for Wednesday (3/12) from 4:30-5:45, will be "a conglomeration of musical history and theoretical physics," Baxter said. He'll lead the workshop with his Epiphone - the Jeff "Skunk" Baxter signature model. Based on Gibson's jumbo shape, with a circular lower bout and a pointed cutaway, it was a unique design - for Gibson and Epiphone -when it was introduced in 1994, and it still has a unique sound that is not found in any other Epi or Gibson model. Baxter tells the story:

"I was doing a video for Warner Bros. where I was going around the world playing with 40 of my favorite guitar players. I came to Nashville to do something with Steve Cropper and Chet Atkins. Part of the deal was to go through the Gibson factory. Steve and I did a speeded up version of going through the factory.

"I had a chance to play a lot of Gibson guitars - a Hummingbird, Doves, J-200s, beautiful guitars. I saw something in the corner. There was a coffee cup on it, and it was covered with crap. I dusted it off, played it, and said, 'This is an amazing idea. With a few tweaks this could be an amazing instrument.'

"The Gibson guy said, 'Don't you want another instrument?' I said, 'No I want this. I'm going to play it tonight at the Bluebird Caf with Chet.' And that's what I did. I strung it up.

When Chet Atkins saw Baxter's guitar, his only comment was, "Man, what is that?"

Baxter replied, "I don't know, but as soon as I find out, we're gonna make one."

Among Baxter's tweaks was to give the guitar a tonal personality designed for performing with a singer. "The idea was to have a guitar with a big enough body that it could generate bass, and not have to use EQ," he explained, referring to the "equalization" process of electronically boosting or cutting certain frequencies. "And it had to have enough top end that it could really speak. I didn't want a guitar with a whole lot of midrange. I wanted to make sure it could be mixed with vocals without getting lost."

Baxter was the first new signature artist for Epiphone in the 1990s. (Other new Epi artist models of 1994, such as Les Paul, Chet Atkins, B.B. King and Howard Roberts, were carryovers from the Gibson line or from earlier Epi offerings.) He opened the doorway to Epi for more artists, including Jack Casady, Noel Gallagher and John Lee Hooker.

Baxter's relationship with guitars dates back to his childhood years, although his first encounter with the instrument was hardly a positive experience. "I was studying classical piano at 5," he said, "and I asked my parents for a bicycle when I was 9. They gave me a guitar, and that really pissed me off."

His attitude toward the guitar changed when a friend who lived below his family showed him some guitar chords. The pivotal point in his guitar career came shortly thereafter. "At 11, a deejay friend of my dad's gave him some records, two of which were the first two Howard Roberts records. So I'm a Howard Roberts baby." Howard Roberts was a first-call L.A. session guitarist at the time, but his two Capitol albums, Color Him Funky and H.R. Is a Dirty Guitar Player, showcased an intriguing mix of bebop and blues - an eclectic approach that set the stage for Baxter's career.

Baxter joined his first bands as a kid in Mexico City, where his father was working. A few years later he was working at a record store in New York and delivering equipment to studios at night, when a guitarist failed to show up for a session. He filled in and has been a session guitarist ever since.

His impressive list of recording credits began in 1969 with the psychedelic group Ultimate Spinach. He joined Steely Dan for their 1972 debut album Can't Buy a Thrill, and stayed through Pretzel Logic in 1974. He moved on to the Doobie Brothers through their most successful period, highlighted by the hits "What a Fool Believes" and "Minute by Minute." His guitar work has enhanced the recordings of a wide range of artists, from Dolly Parton to Bryan Adams to Freddie Hubbard. He also ventured behind the studio console to produce several albums for the group Nazareth.

In the meantime, Baxter developed a strong interest in high-tech military issues, particularly in missile defense systems. Although he was self-educated, he became so knowledgeable that he was hired as a consultant by the Bush administration and by several U.S. Congressmen. He currently sits on the Board of Regents of the Potomac Institute, a Washington research organization. "I consult with a number of defense contractors," he said, "as well as a number of government agencies, on missile defense, counter-terrorism and WMD - weapons of mass destruction, biological mostly - and also linking up with law enforcement and intelligence. About two years ago I was asked to get more involved with the Homeland Security site."

Military technology and music may seem to be unusual - if not incompatible - avocations, but to Baxter his two fields of interest and expertise go hand in hand. "The musicians are the frontline freedom fighters," he explained. "The bad guys are more afraid of music than they are of guns and bombs. Everybody who plays music is a freedom fighter. When the Taliban started cutting off the hands of musicians, that's when I got involved.

"America is very powerful militarily, but culture is the strongest spoke of the wheel," he added. "I'm blessed to have a hand in both camps."