Joe Biden’s Secretary of State nominee is a guitar-playing singer-songwriter who has jammed with Steely Dan’s Jeff “Skunk” Baxter

At 78, Joe Biden will be the oldest president ever to enter office when he is inaugurated on January 20, 2021. But even so, his administration knows a thing or two about how to rock.

Biden’s nominee for Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, for one, is a singer and guitarist who fronts his own band, Ablinken.

Back in 2018, Blinken, who served as Deputy Secretary of State under President Barack Obama, uploaded two songs, Patience and Lip Service (the latter has been characterized as a “weird mix of Alan Parsons and Blue Oyster Cult”), to Spotify. 

He also wrote on Twitter, “For those who like wonk rock check out and follow ABlinken on Spotify. Some original songs from many years back but just recorded.”

What’s more, at a 2016 Coalition of the Willing government event Blinken, with left-handed Danelectro DC59 in hand, jammed Willie Dixon’s Hoochie Coochie Man alongside Steely Dan’s Jeff “Skunk” Baxter.

According to an article in France24, Blinken played jazz and discovered rock while growing up in Paris, and also quoted Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall in his high school yearbook.

More recently, Blinken has performed in a Beatles cover band in Washington, DC and has also used his free time during the pandemic to compose his own songs.

As for what instrument he writes on? Perhaps it's the Martin D-28 that can be seen behind him in the below interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria.