June 25, 2026 • 36 mins
The Motor City Madman himself, Ted Nugent, joins the show for an absolute powerhouse, no-holds-barred conversation. Known for his legendary rock career, fierce independence, and unapologetic defense of constitutional rights, Uncle Ted pulls zero punches in this definitive interview.
In this episode, we dive deep into the state of American culture, the weaponization of the mainstream media, and why he believes 2026 is a critical turning point for the country. Ted breaks down the attack on traditional values, what he calls the rise of "effervescent masculinity," his lifelong dedication to the outdoor lifestyle, and why he refuses to back down from the frontlines of the culture war.
Whether you love him or hate him, you cannot ignore him. Strap in for an unfiltered, high-octane look at freedom, accountability, and rock 'n' roll with a true American icon.
Highlights from the episode:
• The War on Freedom: Ted’s raw take on current American politics
• Accountability & Culture: Why modern society is pushing back on traditional values
• Behind the Music: Staying sharp, staying independent, and breaking the rules for 50+ years
• Living the Gonzo Lifestyle: Faith, family, and the spirit of the outdoors
To check out Ted's music, tour dates, and his latest concert film, visit his official website at TedNugent.com.
Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify so you never miss an unfiltered conversation!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We've got to talk about the America two fifty concert series.
You had the President of the United States. I don't
care if it's Barack Obama. I don't care if it's
Joe Biden or Bill Clinton. If they asked me to
go and play the national anthem on my saxophone, I'm
going to show up and play it. If somebody, if
the president asked you to go celebrate the birth of
this nation, the quarter of a millennium celebration, you say, yes,
don't you ted?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
You know what, we're surrounded by such whimps, I mean,
such eddy little goofballs. Yes, the answer is a resounding yes.
This is the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of this
unique United States of America DNA. It's called rebel. It's
called rebellion. We met King George's punks at the Concord
(00:42):
Bridge when coincidentally they came to take away our right
to self of defense and the right to keep the
bare arms. So we met them at the Concord Bridge
and we shot him in the face. And that's what
happens when you try to denude and try to take
away freedoms from a free man who relies on self
evident truth and actually wrote down the self evident truth
(01:03):
in these sacred documents. So yes, you know, the Nugent
family is celebrating in two hundred and fifty years. I'm
doing the best concerts of my life. I have the
best band in the world, the best audiences in the world.
I play the national anthem every night, Joe, and it's emotional,
it's powerful. There's a lot of clenched fists, but there's
all smiling faces and people know. The whole world sucks,
(01:25):
but America sucks less. And with Donald Trump, we're sucking
less and less every day.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
You know, when you've got Morris Day and the time
who hasn't had hit since nineteen eighty seven, and then
you've got million Vanilli, half of which I think died.
When they're saying no, I mean, I don't get it.
So what is it about the pressure that falls on
somebody like a Morris Day or like a half a
million Vanilly? What makes them think or Martina McBride, what
(01:52):
makes them think I can't possibly do this because this
guy is president. Isn't the country bigger than any one man.
Isn't the actual opportunity to for the annals of time, ted,
whoever plays of this concert is going to be seen
in the historical books. And they said no because somebody
on Twitter said something, what goes on in the brain?
(02:12):
Do you think of people that would say yes and
then quickly say no when somebody called him out.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Well, I've been around for seventy eight years, seventy eight years,
clean and sober, so my mental spiritual radar picks up
accurate information, It digests and analyzes that accurate information, and
it makes sensible decisions. The only person, the only person
that I can blame on anything in life, is the
guy in the mirror, and that goes for everybody out there.
But you know, we've talked about this before with the Teachers'
(02:39):
Union intentionally dumbing down of America. We are so dumb.
If you see the roving reporter on the streets and
they ask who we won the independence from seventeen seventy six,
we are graduating the dumbest people in the history of
the world. And the Left celebrates lack of knowledge. You
listen to these people, try to form a sentence, try
(03:01):
to form a syllable without getting in a fight. And
these artists, they're a manifestation of this dumbing down process
where you nailed it, Joe. You know, we have our
problems in America, but I'm having the greatest year of
my life because I improvise, adapt and overcome. I pay
attention to my conduct and my actions to make sure
(03:24):
that my actions and conduct are beneficial not just to me,
but to my family and my neighbors, and my land,
and my band and my crew, and the people who
pay to see us perform. So all you have to
do here's a rare one. I don't think this is
legal in the Democrat Party, but you have to actually think.
You have to use your head. So these people, they've
been so dumbed down and brainwashed. I mean like Bruce Springsteen,
(03:48):
God bless him in his East Street band. They've made
some wonderful, soulful music. Both of us were inspired by
Mitch Ryder and James Brown and Wilson Pick Chuck Berry.
But how can a guy who has become a billionaire
through capitalism condemn capitalism? This is don't try to figure
out you'll get a headache. Just know that they're really
(04:09):
really stupid people and we need to just ignore them.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
It is a ted nugent rock and roll a legend.
I can't believe that we've been friends for twenty six years. Ted,
by the way, inducted into the Michigan Outdoor Hall of
Fame this August. Congratulations on that. Go and check out these.
These are smaller venues on purpose. You can still sell
out giant auditoriums, but smaller venues on purpose. These are
more personal concerts. And from what I hear from every
(04:34):
toy who goes, you're better than you were in nineteen
seventy eight, which is hard for me to believe. But
then again, I've sat next to you as you played
a Stranglehold and everything else, so I know how good
you still are. With all that in mind, did you
ever when you were jumping off of amplifiers for cat
scratch fever and going crazy in those concent in the
late seventies in the early eighties, did you ever think
to yourself, let me make sure that I understand everybody's
(04:56):
politics in the audience, or were you doing it for
the masses? Ted, Because they don't seem to do that anymore.
They want to only play to the side that they
think they agrees with them. That's a big difference, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
You know, we said in a tennis record at Bike
Week in Arizona a couple months ago, at tens of
thousands of people just dancing their asses off every night
on stage. I look out there and I see little
boys and girls. I see teenagers, I see thirty something.
I see guys that are older than I am. Even
when they're younger than I am, they look older than
I am. But bottom line is, it's about the art.
And I've had people come up that I don't agree
(05:29):
with my politics, and of course I scold them because
my politics are the US Constitution. Hey, uncle Ted, I
love your political views. The Constitution isn't a view, the
Declaration of Independence isn't a presumption. So bottom line, as
you're right, I've been playing for the last sixty eight years,
sixty nine years, I've been playing rock and roll on
(05:50):
rhythm of blues, soul music, and I don't care if
they've prayed their hard earned money to see my band
and I my boys. We put our heart and soul
into every song, every lick, every concert, every night, and
they realize they're getting their money's worth. So in twenty
twenty six, I did my seven fifty first concert here
last week in Texas. These are the best, most gratifying,
(06:13):
energized fun fun. The music Little Richard taught us how
to have fun. So it really doesn't matter what walk
of life, what perspective people come to my concert. There's
probably animal rights people come to my concert knowing that
I'm distributing venison after the show, but they come because
the music has a life of its own. I'm Little
(06:34):
Richard was a gay guy with a pampador singing about
abusing your daughter. But everybody loves the energy and the pisson,
the vinegar. So that's the bottom line to artists. So
I don't understand how artists can compartmentalize and try to
deal with just their favorite people. My music is for
people who love life and have a positive energy in
(06:56):
a attitude, and my soundtrack is the ultimate soundtrack for
those people.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Rock and roll legend Ted Nugent go to Ted NuGen
dot com. Twenty twenty six American Outdoor Sportsman of the Year.
There you go. Let's just add some more awards and rewards,
very very deserving. By the way, let's talk about the
reflecting pool. I want to talk about how stupid this is.
We now have a faction of people. I saw a
guy get arrested yesterday trying to make the reflecting pool
(07:20):
green again, or trying to cut a hole in the
line or the reflecting pool because somehow Trump is a fascist. Literally,
there was a reporter yellington, what are you doing? Why
did you do that? Oh, you're on their side. You're
a fascist.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Ted.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
If you think somebody's a fascist, you make the pool green.
What is going on in the mentality of America right now?
Can you figure it out?
Speaker 2 (07:38):
You know? I know I can't figure it out, and
I'm not even gonna try because I get such a
kick out of idiots. By the way, it's just a
but I'm actually drinking some of the algai from the reflection.
Here's some advice that I know you respect your elders.
Don't try to figure out supid. Just identify it as stupid,
(08:03):
and hopefully we can have some law enforcement to stop
stupid from ruining everybody else's life. I've learned a long
time ago. And people would attack me because I carry
a gun keep it in bearing arms is perfect. People
would attack me because I killed deer and eat venison.
Conservation and venison is perfect. So I knew instinctively, even
(08:25):
though I didn't know what a debate was, and I
graduated from the anti American education system. I instinctively raised
by a great mom and dad and a family who
had to earn their own way, live within their means,
safe for a rainy day. I knew instinctively that self
defense is perfect. So you can take your criticism against
my gun and shove it, and eating venison is the
most perfect of perfect, balancing the herd and maximizing the
(08:48):
productivity of wildlife habitat. So I instinctively knew that my
critics and people attacking me were just idiots. So I've
had a lot of fun laughing at idiots. Here's some
good advice. Everybody laugh at the idiots.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Very good advice from Uncle Ted. Now we can laugh
at the idiots, and you're right, it's kind of fun.
But when the idiots become forty to fifty percent of
the country, that becomes a problem. Ted, I mean, you've
got people who truly believe Donald Trump is a tyrant
or a fascist. They truly believed that You're no good this,
and that the truly believe that I'm gon no good this.
In that because we love the Constitution, because we love
our freedom and liberty, because we don't think government should
(09:26):
intrude in our lives, like they want government to take
over everything you got. Somebody like Mam Donnie gets elected
in New York by lying about affordability, and now he's
basically said, we're going to increase the bus fares, We're
going to take over private businesses, We're going to take
over privately owned homes. Ted, what's going on again? We
can laugh at them, but they're getting a lot of
power suddenly.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Well equal to the laughing at idiots. I'm a fighter, yeah,
I know that the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary is
a celebration of rebels who knew that kings shouldn't have
any say so in our destiny or a of life.
So I remain a rebel against those forces. And it
really is the lunatic fringe. But even a fringe in
this modern world is a huge number of people. They
(10:08):
still control academia, they still control the media for the
most parts. They still control most of the bureaucracies that
are all corrupt. All bureaucracies are corrupt. So the enemy
is quite substantial out there. So I fight like a
son of a bitch, and I try to make sure
that I endorse John James for Governor of Michigan, for
(10:29):
Gina Johnson for District thirty three, Bill Sage for District.
I'm a political animal because the experiment in self government
is all about politics, and I make sure that the
people I endorse and get elected are Christian constitutional conservative
conservationists who stand up for earning your own way, private
(10:51):
property rights, law and order, never letting rapists ever out
of the cage. So these are the kinds of quality
of life issues that I fight for. While I'm laughing
in their face, I'm fighting to get rid of them
and elect accurate representation for Christian constitutional conservative conservation representation.
(11:12):
And by the way, hunter nation dot org, we're gonna
put it on the screen. Joe hunter Nation dot org
is going after conservatives that didn't vote. We are getting
them to vote those core values because as we laugh
in the face of the idiots, we're going to replace
them where people who represent the core values that created
(11:32):
the greatest quality of life the United States of America
in the history of the human experience.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
I was blown away by what I learned from you.
A couple of times ago that we spoke. I think
it was actually before the twenty twenty four election. How
many Hunters did you sign up? Was it two or
three hundred thousand that were not even registered to vote?
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Many millions the seventh doing states in twenty four. Hunter
nation dot org played the biggest role. We scolded them.
We found million and I use the term hunters because
those are conservationists, those are conservatives, Those are hardworking people
who are in the asset column for godfamily country. We
(12:11):
found that no state had even fifty percent of hunters
that had ever registered to vote. So I went after
him and we got millions to vote, and we're getting
more and more. In fact, Keith Mark, thefounder of hunter
Nation dot organs in Washington, d C. Once again making
sure that the bureaucrats represent people in the asset column
(12:32):
instead of represent people in the liability column. And we
know what those columns look like. Hardworking people who abide
by the law and take care of their family and
produce versus those that suck blood from the rest of us.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
It is a technowge. You got to tech nugent dot
com twenty twenty six. American outdoor Sports one of the year.
Check out his program. What is it Saturday at three
on Real America's Voice.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Yeah, something like that, Real America's Voice, the spirit campfire.
That would be flames coming out of my ass. So
be sure you bring marginalists.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Yeah, I want to fry some marshmallows on those flames.
It is Ted Notion his hot self. Amazing to have
you every single time. I think you told me this before.
Can you tell my audience again, why weren't these hunters
signed up? Why were they just complacent? And I mean
were they apathetic because of a specific reason? Were they
too busy? Why weren't they signed up?
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Well, Number one, voting takes place during the peak of
the hunting season. But that excuse, that is such a lame,
spineless excuse. But ultimately we've talked about it before. Worst
than Democrats, worse than Marxists, worst than communists, worse than
the enemies of America are Americans constricted by apathy, non players,
(13:41):
non engagement is the worst person America. This is an
experiment in self government. Every family has a moral, spiritual obligation,
of patriotic obligation to vote for accurate representation. We do
the Tea Party, then but right now we're scrambling for
damage control because we didn't vote family values for quality control.
(14:02):
So apathy is the worst curse mankind can exist. So ultimately,
everybody get out there, register to vote, vote for Christian
constitutional conservative conservation representation, and the toilet flush of America
will come to an end.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Yeah it is Ted Nugeen. Go to Ted NuGen dot
com right now. I always have to talk to you
about music. As I'm watching a lot of videos over
on YouTube and elsewhere people are breaking down music. I
love the clip that I'm sure you've seen by now,
Joe Rogan asking a guy who's interviewing have you heard
a stranglehold hold by Ted Nugent And he's like, I
don't think so. And then Rogan plays it and he's
(14:39):
like you got to hear it. He plays it and
the guy goes, oh, yeah, no, I do know this song. Ted.
There's something about your music and I want look, I
know that you're very confident in who you are, but
I wonder if anybody's ever asked you this. When you
write something like stranglehold, do you know that it's going
to hit me in the gut. It's not just a song.
It's not just a riff, it's it's like, Okay, my
blood's pumping a different now. It's almost like Welcome to
(15:01):
the Jungle by Guns n' Roses has the same effect
on me. Catskrat Fever does too. What is it about
the riffs that you write to open your songs? Is
it a visceral ethereal thing that you feel in your body?
And then you're like, okay, that's the one.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Well, Joe, the best way to explain it. But just
before I came out with you, I was signing a
bunch of these guitars. I was playing these guitar too.
You can go to Toby at ted nugent dot com
and purchased one of these, making donating for our children's
charity nonprofit. But ultimately, I don't think about anything when
I make music. I channel Little Richard and I'm a
(15:37):
music lover. I love what James Brown does. I love
what the Motown Funk Brothers do. I love what Chuck
Berry and Bo Diddley created. This this sexy, grinding, spiritual
rhythm that really encompasses the spirit of adventure and the
spirit of fluidity, if I may. But when I create
(15:58):
a piece of music come in from shooting my bow,
or training with my firearms, training my dogs, uh, snuggling
with Chemaine, playing with my grandkids, and I'll grab a
guitar and immediately a rhythm that is like the son
of Chuck Berry, the son of Motown. The rhythms happen
because I crave a rhythm, I crave a groove. I
(16:21):
crave a note pattern and sequence. And because my hand's
been there so many millions of times, my hands can
deliver what my ears crave. And then the song makes
me think of a stand in a belief system. Especially
Wang Dang Sweetpoon Tang. That was an emotion. But the songs,
(16:42):
when I make these songs, it's martial arts. It's it's
out of body. I don't think I've never sat down
in my life with a pencil and paper and written
a lyric. I have a song called Crave, and I
just sat down and went a simple life. I will
not have. It doesn't satisfy me. I don't believe in
the status quote kind of leave me weak. A mountain
(17:04):
high is what I climb. I swim a river deep,
and if you want the time of your life, try
to keep up with me. I'm gonna live, I'm gonna fly,
I'm gonna soar till the day I die on the
wings of a bird of prey. This is what I crave.
That embodies my approach to music. Because little Richard Mitch
riding the Detroit Wheels, those soulful Masters, Howling Wolf and
(17:26):
Muddy Waters Motown, they so move us that I didn't.
I wasn't happy just hearing it and listening to it.
I wanted to express myself in that same way. And
here in twenty twenty six, Joe, this is a miracle.
I'm old. I'm seventy eight years old. I am creating
the most dangerous animal breeding soundtrack fun music of my life,
(17:47):
and we unleash it on stage every night. That's why
it's seventy eight. I don't look like those other seventy
eight years old because I've been clean and sober and
I let my life fly every day no doubt.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
My friend go to Technisian dot com tm ted, is
there any artists today? And the reason why I bring
up the breakdowns of songs like like you came up
with and others because we're going back to the seventies,
the eighties and nineties. We're going back to when music
had added a richness to it that meant you're not
going to release it if it doesn't make you feel
a certain way. Like today, we're just putting it out.
Just put it out. Download the MP three over here,
(18:18):
here's the latest album on Spotify. Whatever. Is there anybody
today that you think to yourself, that young person has it?
Is there anybody that you go, all right, I get
it if you're sixty four or older. This is critical.
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(19:02):
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Speaker 2 (19:09):
Well, first of all, I mentioned Chruck Barring Little Rich
and all the Motown masters, and certainly my buddies Tommy
Shaw with Sticks, My Damn Yankee, Buddy Jack Blades with
night Ranger. Now they're not new bands, but they still
keep that fire going. The Mitch Ryder band mate, Jim
McCarty and Johnny Banajik, they're still playing in Detroit. There's
a kid named Mark Cassa in Detroit that has a
(19:29):
band called Slight Return. There's a kid, he's a teenager,
called Sam Bittenbender. There's a new guitar player out there
called Jared James Nichols and Wes Jeans. These guys are
unleashing fire, grooves and energy every night. Now they're not
having hit wrecords right now, but they're still out there
performing and people are coming to see him. The Ted
(19:49):
Nugent is able to take my amazing band and do
gigs all across the Heartland in the summer of twenty
twenty six and have the time of my life. Certainly
a gift from God. So it's about the spirit of
the music. And there's Sam wherever. Sammy Hagar plays, that's
the real McCoy. That's Chuck Berry and bou Dilly. When
Sammy plays that's Little Richard, that's James Brown. So the
(20:11):
best music is still alive.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
And well, if you were starting today, could you be
who you are now? And I know it's a loaded question.
You obviously are somebody who's going to succeed no matter
what you try. I get it. You're an A type.
I'm an A type. People like us, we're gonna do something,
going to grind until we succeed. But if you were
just starting today, you were that eleven year old kid
at the soda shop or whatever it is, could you
have made it to where you are today? If you
(20:34):
are starting in today's music industry, which is light years
different than than the way it was in the sixties.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
You know, you say eleven year old at a soda shop.
I was an eleven year old at Waltz Malt Shop
on Grand River and Warwick Avenue, Detroit, nineteen fifty nine.
That was me. I literally know it.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
I know, Chad, That's why I said it.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Yeah, I know, but it needs to be emphasized because
that's not how you think it starts. But that's how
it can start wonderfully. Bo Diddley Licks and a couple
of kids would show up, and then the next night
at the Rosedale Park Theater, a couple more kids showed up.
Because I was really grinding. I wanted to be bothuck Berry.
(21:12):
So I think with my spirit my work ethic, and
that goes for all those bands I just mentioned, and
all your bands, even the music that I don't care for,
they all have an amazing work ethic because it takes
a lot of work to put these songs together and
make the band tight and authoritative. So that spirit and
that work ethic, I absolutely believe that if Ted Nuger
(21:35):
was born in nineteen ninety nine and I found a
malt shop that I could play chuck Berry and I
played it. Where my forehead you gotta have forehead veins popping.
I want to hear these four crescendos for every song,
and I want fingers to bleed at the end of
every set. And if you put that kind of passion
and energy into it, people will celebrate it with you.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Ways and again, Ted NuGen dot com, It's the MotorCity
Madmen rock and roll legend. Ted NuGen friend of mine
for over a quarter of a century. That's crazy had
you had the music ability that you have starting today
with more access because I think there might be a
positive to today's ability as well. You can press a
button and you're on the Internet and anybody who's got
(22:21):
an Internet connection might hear what you're doing. Might there
be a better way in for really driven people, very
intelligent musically people in today's day and age. I know
that the music industry is very different. I think there's
a lot of fake out there, a lot of people
not really doing what they pretend like they're doing. But
I think that if you're starting up in your Ted
Nugent in twenty twenty six, I think you press a button,
put it on the internet, you might be a sensation overnight.
(22:42):
I mean, is there an ability for young people to
take advantage of the new technology that we have?
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Well, channel Robert de Niro in Heat when he said
there's a flip side to that coin. So there is.
The flip side is not very pretty, and that is
that you can have. I think strength Hold is approaching
a billion what they call streams wow, and my Fred
Bhaer is approaching a billion streams because people love powerful, emotional, dynamic,
(23:13):
fun music. But in the old days, I could get
a couple bucks per album sold. I think if you
have a billion stream you might get twenty nine ninety five.
So capitalism is about putting your heart and soul into
creating a product or service that I was blind to
the compensatory consideration as well. They actually said compensatory considerations.
(23:39):
I wasn't. I wasn't aware of getting paid. I just
wanted to make music until I started realizing that instead
of ten people came to the gay get a buck ahead,
there was two hundred people. Well that's my money. They
came to see. They didn't come to see the walls.
So you have have And if you're going to put
a band together and get an amplifier and get guitar strings,
and get a van and get a trailer and pay
(24:00):
for the gas and change the oil and get new tires,
you got to get paid to keep afloat. That payment
has dramatically been reduced. And I know guys that bust
their ass, that are incredible virtuosos, and they can they
can barely pay the fee to keep that boat afloat
because the compensation in the in the music selling industry,
(24:23):
the records, the CDs whatever, I don't even know what
they are. Now you can't keep up. Now we're selling
a lot of my original vinyls. There's a new system
called nuge Vault, nuge vault dot com where we're getting
all this archives, all these old recordings and outtakes and
extra songs from the recording sessions of my forty million
(24:43):
albums sold and people are buying these. So I'm still
lucky that people dig into what makes Ted Nugent tick
and there's a lot of It's called nuge vault dot
com and it's it's a huge success because people want
to know what makes this maniac tick. And as soon
as you figure it out, call me, would.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
You it is a Ted newge and go to Ted
Nusi dot com, nuge vault dot com, go there as well,
and hunter nation dot org. Is that what it is?
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Dead? That's right, Joe, very important, Go.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
There and check all of those out. Let me throw
a name out and you might not even know much
of his music. But a guy who looks like he's grinding,
like he doesn't like he needs a job, and he's
very very successful, as Bruno Mars Bruno Omars goes on
stage and will perform and entertain you. I think that
his music is fun music. A lot of it is
in a major key, and it's danceable music. But he
(25:31):
looks like he's sweating his face off when he's out
there working it. He's not like these you know, all
packaged up and you know everything's perfect people. But I
think there's something about his ethic that reminds me of you.
Is that something or not, Well.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
It's not out of the ordinary that you identify that.
Because Bruno Mars is a musical force to reckon with,
because he's son of James Brown, He's son of Richard,
he is son of Michael Jackson, who whether people love
him or not, I don't know how I can't love him,
eve though we had a tragic life. But his work,
his focus on cultivating his musical gifts from God. That
(26:05):
describes Bruno Mars. I'm a huge Bruno Mars fan. But
let's get right to the important thing. Way more important
than Ted NuGen is my band. Way more important than
Bruno Mars is his incredible band. Way more important than
Bruce Springsteen is the East Street Band. So never forget
that these guys and us guys, we bust our ass
(26:27):
to deliver the musical beast to the best of our
ability every night. And that described Bruno Mars, which is
why you and I are huge fans of his.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
It is Ted Nudge. I'm a huge fan of his
because I think you nailed it. I didn't think about
it until you said it. But he is feeding off
of James and you know, Chuck Berry and all these
guys because he's not playing music that you would think
is typically twenty twenty six music. He's bringing us music
that's like seventies funk. He's bringing us like early eighties
you know, I mean the stuff that he's doing. And
(26:56):
then you're right, the band that he's got is amazing.
Let me circle back to something that you and I
know very well, which is work ethic. I got my
first job at twelve. I was cleaning out fish tanks
in South Florida. Twelve years old. I wanted twenty five
cents a day. You're at the malt shop, you know,
playing guitar, and you've been working ever since. We had
this work ethic. But Ted, any day of the week
on the news, we can see a teen takeover in Chicago,
(27:19):
in Detroit, in DC, ruining places, throwing chairs at the Chipotle,
attacking people because they're wearing the wrong jersey. What happened
to a work ethic where we were young, even preteens,
out there trying to make a buck cause we had
a future that we were looking at. What caused this today?
Is it bad parenting? Is it bad governance? Is it
bad teens? Why are we seeing this so much? Do
(27:40):
you think it's all.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Of the above? And that is a real heartbreak, a
real tragedy. It's a manifestation of a cultural abandonment, and
the parents are to blame. But at some point a
human being has a spirit and has a soul and
will look in the mirror because when you look in
the mirror, that's that's the guy who's responsible for all
(28:02):
your conditions in life. If you're having a hard time,
the guy in the mirror did that. So at some point,
even though your parents have abandoned you and let you
get away with murder and destroying things and being a
complete punk, at some point the spirit and brain has
to click on and go, you know, I should probably
do good. I should probably start stop being evil and
(28:26):
negative and destroying stuff. I should probably start taking better
care of myself and being responsible, but that's gone the
way of the Dodo bird, and that is one of
the great tragedies in America. Those monster kids and those
people destroying airports and McDonald's and doing what they do.
They should be put in a cage and hose down
(28:47):
until they wake up and quit that nasty law breaking behavior.
That is a real curse in America. And as we
get people from around the world coming to these sporting
events and coming to America and realizing that Americans don't
hate America. Just liberals hate America. Only democrats hate America.
And they've brainwashed a segment of society to just be
(29:10):
the worst that they can be. And remember when we
first started talking many years ago, and on this interview,
I improvise a daft and overcome. I'm having the greatest
year of my life. It's going to be the worst
for my enemies, but it's going to be the greatest
life for my nugent family, my friends, my band, my team,
my hunting buddies, because we take responsibility and when we
(29:32):
see our fellow Americans trashing cities and raping and pillaging
and carjacking and stabbing and robbing and just destroying property.
It breaks our hearts. So some law enforcement starts cracking
some skulls, start stopping these people from doing these because
(29:53):
the taxpayers have to clean up their mess. And that
is so anti American in the two hundred and fiftieth anniverse.
We got to stop this from stop it now.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
You know, we've got people like Brendan Johnson, who's the
mayor of Chicago, saying things like they just need a
place to gather, they just don't have enough to do. No,
I didn't need a place to gather. I needed a
place to go and figure out what my future was
going to be. But then again, I had a mother
who if she gave me the withering look, I was
scared to death. Like I had a father who I've
even looked my way I was running. So I mean,
we were kept in check and we learned values early on.
(30:23):
Can we save a generation that things taken over the
mall is the right thing to do?
Speaker 2 (30:28):
Joe, I don't know, it's so out of hand. But
once again, you've met my son, Toby, my son, Roka
my son fleets Dasha, Heather Chantelle. I have thirteen grandkids.
Now I got a new grandson, River Wolf, Nugent, Nice Lindusk.
You have to be accountable and actions have consequences, and
(30:51):
the abandonment of parenting, the abandonment of fatherhood, the abandonment
of goodwill and decency that runs amos. I have a
song called My Bow and Arrow, where the second verse
is I grew up into a world and I started
feeling strange. I saw the cities kill their souls, and
I started and so I grabbed my bow and arrow
(31:13):
and go down to the woods. We need to get
back to down to earth accountability. You will never be
happy if you don't produce. You can't go to bed
happy if you're not being productive, and you have a
vapor trail of positive. If you've got destruction, you are
a sad, soulless, heartless, bad human being. And the person
(31:34):
in the mirror is responsible. So I know we have
the right commander in chief. Now I know we have
an upgrade taken place in the United States of American government.
The bureaucracies can't be trusted, but we're on our way
to a better day. I'm hoping that the celebration of
two hundred and fifty years of the only experiment and
self government the history of the world will wake people up.
(31:56):
And there's so many great black leaders out there. I
mean Alan West and Sage and Kevin Cork and Jason,
so many great black leaders. They've got to get organized
and tell these blacks to stop destroying each other shooting instead.
What was there over one hundred shootings in Chicago's gun
(32:19):
free zone over the weekend, Something like a dozen killed
the people in the mirror did that? And nobody's raising
enough hell. I'd like to raise some hell. I wish
I could help. And I have a real America Voice
Spirit Campfire podcast, and I raise as much hell as
I can. You're doing a great job. There's so many
great voices out there. But we can't go downtown and
(32:40):
start beating people up. But somebody, mom and dad better
start beating people up. And if kids are destroying property,
make them pay for it. That's the only hope to
bring America back to this great, shining city on a hill.
Did I just quote Reagan? I think I quoted Reagan.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
I think you did. It was a great quote. And
by the way, it is important that that figures in
this country come out and do that because these team
takeovers are all young black people who are doing me no. Well, no,
they probably won't. But Ben Carson, you got Wesley Hunt,
I mean, and the members that you just named as well.
These are all great people that should be listened to.
(33:17):
And I think that we can bring this thing back.
Let me finish it here, Ted, I want to finish
it on the the status of masculinity in America. I
think under Obama we saw a very feminine man as
the President of the United States. I don't even hesitate
to say that he just is. And we had this
push that masculinity was bad, that patriarchy was bad. But
what you just talked about, what you and I have
(33:38):
been talking about for the past half an hour, is
that you do need a patriarch. You do need a
strong male figure to make sure that everybody stays in
the straight and narrow. Are we back? I feel like
we're back, But are we well?
Speaker 2 (33:50):
I I struggle with effervescent masculinity myself. I'm such a man.
I can hardly stand myself. I have two guns, now knives.
I'm surrounded by about billion rounds of AMMO. I got
over ten thousand horsepower. I got a truck over there
that only gets nine hundred yards to the gallon. I'm
such a man. I stand no and my son's But
(34:12):
you know what, My daughters are tough. My daughters are hunters.
My daughters have a garden. My daughters get their hands dirty.
My grandkids get their hands dirty. My grandkids catch fish
and turn them into family sized portions. We eat squirrel,
we plant trees. We work hard, We get dirty every day.
And once again, Ted Nugent's life is surrounded by those
(34:33):
kinds of rugged individuals that are not afraid to do anything,
not afraid to get dirty and get down and fix
stuff and repair stuff. And it's alive and well. But
I see a lot of wocification, a lot of spinelessness,
a lot of soullessness out there. But Joe, I think
you've nailed it. I think the patriarch, the man of
the household, the protector, the provider. A woman can do
(34:56):
most of that, and women can do what we can't do.
But a man's got to stand strong, take good care
of himself. I look at life as a building, and
if it catches on fire, as a man, I'm gonna
save everybody's life. In that building, I'm pant and like
those heroes on nine to eleven, I will run up
those stairs into the fire to save innocent people. And
(35:19):
that describes every man. I know, my ban my crew,
my management, my sons, my grandsons, and the women in
my life. The women in my life kick ass. The
women in my life would kick every Barack Obama's ass
that exists out. So I'm proud of that.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
Well, it's the same for the women. I've got five daughters,
as you know, I've got two granddaughters and a grand son,
So I'm with you. I mean, we're building a stronger society.
You build a strong society through strong men. And that
doesn't mean that women don't have to be strong. Like
you said, they could do things that we can't ever
even imagine doing. But with that a strong male figure,
it's sort of that guiding light and that compass in society.
(35:57):
We're going to be lost, and we were lost for
eight years under Obama. I believe that. And we're still
trying to weed out the idea that masculinity is somehow toxic,
which is ridiculous. Ted Nugent dot Com go there right now.
Check him out in a Real America's voice every weekend.
Check out Jamaine NuGen as well, the American Outdoor Sportsman
of the Year for twenty twenty six. It is our
good friend Ted Nugent. Ted, I can't thank you enough
(36:17):
the last one set of record. I'm guessing this one
is going to do just as good because if you're
attached to it, it's going to be a big, big
deal online. Thanks so much, Ted, appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Thank you, Bill. We have a first amendment and you
use it well. My friend. You aim small, miss small
with your first amendment. I salute you. Happy two hundred
and fifty of America. I love Real America.
Speaker 1 (36:36):
And we love Ted Nugeen. Go and check him out
Ted Nugeen dot com wherever. If he's performing near you,
make sure you get there. That's it for this on
the Unchecking and Unafraid podcast continues another one to drop
very soon.
We've got to talk about the America two fifty concert series.
You had the President of the United States. I don't
care if it's Barack Obama. I don't care if it's
Joe Biden or Bill Clinton. If they asked me to
go and play the national anthem on my saxophone, I'm
going to show up and play it. If somebody, if
the president asked you to go celebrate the birth of
this nation, the quarter of a millennium celebration, you say, yes,
don't you ted?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
You know what, we're surrounded by such whimps, I mean,
such eddy little goofballs. Yes, the answer is a resounding yes.
This is the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of this
unique United States of America DNA. It's called rebel. It's
called rebellion. We met King George's punks at the Concord
(00:42):
Bridge when coincidentally they came to take away our right
to self of defense and the right to keep the
bare arms. So we met them at the Concord Bridge
and we shot him in the face. And that's what
happens when you try to denude and try to take
away freedoms from a free man who relies on self
evident truth and actually wrote down the self evident truth
(01:03):
in these sacred documents. So yes, you know, the Nugent
family is celebrating in two hundred and fifty years. I'm
doing the best concerts of my life. I have the
best band in the world, the best audiences in the world.
I play the national anthem every night, Joe, and it's emotional,
it's powerful. There's a lot of clenched fists, but there's
all smiling faces and people know. The whole world sucks,
(01:25):
but America sucks less. And with Donald Trump, we're sucking
less and less every day.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
You know, when you've got Morris Day and the time
who hasn't had hit since nineteen eighty seven, and then
you've got million Vanilli, half of which I think died.
When they're saying no, I mean, I don't get it.
So what is it about the pressure that falls on
somebody like a Morris Day or like a half a
million Vanilly? What makes them think or Martina McBride, what
(01:52):
makes them think I can't possibly do this because this
guy is president. Isn't the country bigger than any one man.
Isn't the actual opportunity to for the annals of time, ted,
whoever plays of this concert is going to be seen
in the historical books. And they said no because somebody
on Twitter said something, what goes on in the brain?
(02:12):
Do you think of people that would say yes and
then quickly say no when somebody called him out.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Well, I've been around for seventy eight years, seventy eight years,
clean and sober, so my mental spiritual radar picks up
accurate information, It digests and analyzes that accurate information, and
it makes sensible decisions. The only person, the only person
that I can blame on anything in life, is the
guy in the mirror, and that goes for everybody out there.
But you know, we've talked about this before with the Teachers'
(02:39):
Union intentionally dumbing down of America. We are so dumb.
If you see the roving reporter on the streets and
they ask who we won the independence from seventeen seventy six,
we are graduating the dumbest people in the history of
the world. And the Left celebrates lack of knowledge. You
listen to these people, try to form a sentence, try
(03:01):
to form a syllable without getting in a fight. And
these artists, they're a manifestation of this dumbing down process
where you nailed it, Joe. You know, we have our
problems in America, but I'm having the greatest year of
my life because I improvise, adapt and overcome. I pay
attention to my conduct and my actions to make sure
(03:24):
that my actions and conduct are beneficial not just to me,
but to my family and my neighbors, and my land,
and my band and my crew, and the people who
pay to see us perform. So all you have to
do here's a rare one. I don't think this is
legal in the Democrat Party, but you have to actually think.
You have to use your head. So these people, they've
been so dumbed down and brainwashed. I mean like Bruce Springsteen,
(03:48):
God bless him in his East Street band. They've made
some wonderful, soulful music. Both of us were inspired by
Mitch Ryder and James Brown and Wilson Pick Chuck Berry.
But how can a guy who has become a billionaire
through capitalism condemn capitalism? This is don't try to figure
out you'll get a headache. Just know that they're really
(04:09):
really stupid people and we need to just ignore them.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
It is a ted nugent rock and roll a legend.
I can't believe that we've been friends for twenty six years. Ted,
by the way, inducted into the Michigan Outdoor Hall of
Fame this August. Congratulations on that. Go and check out these.
These are smaller venues on purpose. You can still sell
out giant auditoriums, but smaller venues on purpose. These are
more personal concerts. And from what I hear from every
(04:34):
toy who goes, you're better than you were in nineteen
seventy eight, which is hard for me to believe. But
then again, I've sat next to you as you played
a Stranglehold and everything else, so I know how good
you still are. With all that in mind, did you
ever when you were jumping off of amplifiers for cat
scratch fever and going crazy in those concent in the
late seventies in the early eighties, did you ever think
to yourself, let me make sure that I understand everybody's
(04:56):
politics in the audience, or were you doing it for
the masses? Ted, Because they don't seem to do that anymore.
They want to only play to the side that they
think they agrees with them. That's a big difference, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
You know, we said in a tennis record at Bike
Week in Arizona a couple months ago, at tens of
thousands of people just dancing their asses off every night
on stage. I look out there and I see little
boys and girls. I see teenagers, I see thirty something.
I see guys that are older than I am. Even
when they're younger than I am, they look older than
I am. But bottom line is, it's about the art.
And I've had people come up that I don't agree
(05:29):
with my politics, and of course I scold them because
my politics are the US Constitution. Hey, uncle Ted, I
love your political views. The Constitution isn't a view, the
Declaration of Independence isn't a presumption. So bottom line, as
you're right, I've been playing for the last sixty eight years,
sixty nine years, I've been playing rock and roll on
(05:50):
rhythm of blues, soul music, and I don't care if
they've prayed their hard earned money to see my band
and I my boys. We put our heart and soul
into every song, every lick, every concert, every night, and
they realize they're getting their money's worth. So in twenty
twenty six, I did my seven fifty first concert here
last week in Texas. These are the best, most gratifying,
(06:13):
energized fun fun. The music Little Richard taught us how
to have fun. So it really doesn't matter what walk
of life, what perspective people come to my concert. There's
probably animal rights people come to my concert knowing that
I'm distributing venison after the show, but they come because
the music has a life of its own. I'm Little
(06:34):
Richard was a gay guy with a pampador singing about
abusing your daughter. But everybody loves the energy and the pisson,
the vinegar. So that's the bottom line to artists. So
I don't understand how artists can compartmentalize and try to
deal with just their favorite people. My music is for
people who love life and have a positive energy in
(06:56):
a attitude, and my soundtrack is the ultimate soundtrack for
those people.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Rock and roll legend Ted Nugent go to Ted NuGen
dot com. Twenty twenty six American Outdoor Sportsman of the Year.
There you go. Let's just add some more awards and rewards,
very very deserving. By the way, let's talk about the
reflecting pool. I want to talk about how stupid this is.
We now have a faction of people. I saw a
guy get arrested yesterday trying to make the reflecting pool
(07:20):
green again, or trying to cut a hole in the
line or the reflecting pool because somehow Trump is a fascist. Literally,
there was a reporter yellington, what are you doing? Why
did you do that? Oh, you're on their side. You're
a fascist.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Ted.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
If you think somebody's a fascist, you make the pool green.
What is going on in the mentality of America right now?
Can you figure it out?
Speaker 2 (07:38):
You know? I know I can't figure it out, and
I'm not even gonna try because I get such a
kick out of idiots. By the way, it's just a
but I'm actually drinking some of the algai from the reflection.
Here's some advice that I know you respect your elders.
Don't try to figure out supid. Just identify it as stupid,
(08:03):
and hopefully we can have some law enforcement to stop
stupid from ruining everybody else's life. I've learned a long
time ago. And people would attack me because I carry
a gun keep it in bearing arms is perfect. People
would attack me because I killed deer and eat venison.
Conservation and venison is perfect. So I knew instinctively, even
(08:25):
though I didn't know what a debate was, and I
graduated from the anti American education system. I instinctively raised
by a great mom and dad and a family who
had to earn their own way, live within their means,
safe for a rainy day. I knew instinctively that self
defense is perfect. So you can take your criticism against
my gun and shove it, and eating venison is the
most perfect of perfect, balancing the herd and maximizing the
(08:48):
productivity of wildlife habitat. So I instinctively knew that my
critics and people attacking me were just idiots. So I've
had a lot of fun laughing at idiots. Here's some
good advice. Everybody laugh at the idiots.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Very good advice from Uncle Ted. Now we can laugh
at the idiots, and you're right, it's kind of fun.
But when the idiots become forty to fifty percent of
the country, that becomes a problem. Ted, I mean, you've
got people who truly believe Donald Trump is a tyrant
or a fascist. They truly believed that You're no good this,
and that the truly believe that I'm gon no good this.
In that because we love the Constitution, because we love
our freedom and liberty, because we don't think government should
(09:26):
intrude in our lives, like they want government to take
over everything you got. Somebody like Mam Donnie gets elected
in New York by lying about affordability, and now he's
basically said, we're going to increase the bus fares, We're
going to take over private businesses, We're going to take
over privately owned homes. Ted, what's going on again? We
can laugh at them, but they're getting a lot of
power suddenly.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Well equal to the laughing at idiots. I'm a fighter, yeah,
I know that the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary is
a celebration of rebels who knew that kings shouldn't have
any say so in our destiny or a of life.
So I remain a rebel against those forces. And it
really is the lunatic fringe. But even a fringe in
this modern world is a huge number of people. They
(10:08):
still control academia, they still control the media for the
most parts. They still control most of the bureaucracies that
are all corrupt. All bureaucracies are corrupt. So the enemy
is quite substantial out there. So I fight like a
son of a bitch, and I try to make sure
that I endorse John James for Governor of Michigan, for
(10:29):
Gina Johnson for District thirty three, Bill Sage for District.
I'm a political animal because the experiment in self government
is all about politics, and I make sure that the
people I endorse and get elected are Christian constitutional conservative
conservationists who stand up for earning your own way, private
(10:51):
property rights, law and order, never letting rapists ever out
of the cage. So these are the kinds of quality
of life issues that I fight for. While I'm laughing
in their face, I'm fighting to get rid of them
and elect accurate representation for Christian constitutional conservative conservation representation.
(11:12):
And by the way, hunter nation dot org, we're gonna
put it on the screen. Joe hunter Nation dot org
is going after conservatives that didn't vote. We are getting
them to vote those core values because as we laugh
in the face of the idiots, we're going to replace
them where people who represent the core values that created
(11:32):
the greatest quality of life the United States of America
in the history of the human experience.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
I was blown away by what I learned from you.
A couple of times ago that we spoke. I think
it was actually before the twenty twenty four election. How
many Hunters did you sign up? Was it two or
three hundred thousand that were not even registered to vote?
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Many millions the seventh doing states in twenty four. Hunter
nation dot org played the biggest role. We scolded them.
We found million and I use the term hunters because
those are conservationists, those are conservatives, Those are hardworking people
who are in the asset column for godfamily country. We
(12:11):
found that no state had even fifty percent of hunters
that had ever registered to vote. So I went after
him and we got millions to vote, and we're getting
more and more. In fact, Keith Mark, thefounder of hunter
Nation dot organs in Washington, d C. Once again making
sure that the bureaucrats represent people in the asset column
(12:32):
instead of represent people in the liability column. And we
know what those columns look like. Hardworking people who abide
by the law and take care of their family and
produce versus those that suck blood from the rest of us.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
It is a technowge. You got to tech nugent dot
com twenty twenty six. American outdoor Sports one of the year.
Check out his program. What is it Saturday at three
on Real America's Voice.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Yeah, something like that, Real America's Voice, the spirit campfire.
That would be flames coming out of my ass. So
be sure you bring marginalists.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Yeah, I want to fry some marshmallows on those flames.
It is Ted Notion his hot self. Amazing to have
you every single time. I think you told me this before.
Can you tell my audience again, why weren't these hunters
signed up? Why were they just complacent? And I mean
were they apathetic because of a specific reason? Were they
too busy? Why weren't they signed up?
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Well, Number one, voting takes place during the peak of
the hunting season. But that excuse, that is such a lame,
spineless excuse. But ultimately we've talked about it before. Worst
than Democrats, worse than Marxists, worst than communists, worse than
the enemies of America are Americans constricted by apathy, non players,
(13:41):
non engagement is the worst person America. This is an
experiment in self government. Every family has a moral, spiritual obligation,
of patriotic obligation to vote for accurate representation. We do
the Tea Party, then but right now we're scrambling for
damage control because we didn't vote family values for quality control.
(14:02):
So apathy is the worst curse mankind can exist. So ultimately,
everybody get out there, register to vote, vote for Christian
constitutional conservative conservation representation, and the toilet flush of America
will come to an end.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Yeah it is Ted Nugeen. Go to Ted NuGen dot
com right now. I always have to talk to you
about music. As I'm watching a lot of videos over
on YouTube and elsewhere people are breaking down music. I
love the clip that I'm sure you've seen by now,
Joe Rogan asking a guy who's interviewing have you heard
a stranglehold hold by Ted Nugent And he's like, I
don't think so. And then Rogan plays it and he's
(14:39):
like you got to hear it. He plays it and
the guy goes, oh, yeah, no, I do know this song. Ted.
There's something about your music and I want look, I
know that you're very confident in who you are, but
I wonder if anybody's ever asked you this. When you
write something like stranglehold, do you know that it's going
to hit me in the gut. It's not just a song.
It's not just a riff, it's it's like, Okay, my
blood's pumping a different now. It's almost like Welcome to
(15:01):
the Jungle by Guns n' Roses has the same effect
on me. Catskrat Fever does too. What is it about
the riffs that you write to open your songs? Is
it a visceral ethereal thing that you feel in your body?
And then you're like, okay, that's the one.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Well, Joe, the best way to explain it. But just
before I came out with you, I was signing a
bunch of these guitars. I was playing these guitar too.
You can go to Toby at ted nugent dot com
and purchased one of these, making donating for our children's
charity nonprofit. But ultimately, I don't think about anything when
I make music. I channel Little Richard and I'm a
(15:37):
music lover. I love what James Brown does. I love
what the Motown Funk Brothers do. I love what Chuck
Berry and Bo Diddley created. This this sexy, grinding, spiritual
rhythm that really encompasses the spirit of adventure and the
spirit of fluidity, if I may. But when I create
(15:58):
a piece of music come in from shooting my bow,
or training with my firearms, training my dogs, uh, snuggling
with Chemaine, playing with my grandkids, and I'll grab a
guitar and immediately a rhythm that is like the son
of Chuck Berry, the son of Motown. The rhythms happen
because I crave a rhythm, I crave a groove. I
(16:21):
crave a note pattern and sequence. And because my hand's
been there so many millions of times, my hands can
deliver what my ears crave. And then the song makes
me think of a stand in a belief system. Especially
Wang Dang Sweetpoon Tang. That was an emotion. But the songs,
(16:42):
when I make these songs, it's martial arts. It's it's
out of body. I don't think I've never sat down
in my life with a pencil and paper and written
a lyric. I have a song called Crave, and I
just sat down and went a simple life. I will
not have. It doesn't satisfy me. I don't believe in
the status quote kind of leave me weak. A mountain
(17:04):
high is what I climb. I swim a river deep,
and if you want the time of your life, try
to keep up with me. I'm gonna live, I'm gonna fly,
I'm gonna soar till the day I die on the
wings of a bird of prey. This is what I crave.
That embodies my approach to music. Because little Richard Mitch
riding the Detroit Wheels, those soulful Masters, Howling Wolf and
(17:26):
Muddy Waters Motown, they so move us that I didn't.
I wasn't happy just hearing it and listening to it.
I wanted to express myself in that same way. And
here in twenty twenty six, Joe, this is a miracle.
I'm old. I'm seventy eight years old. I am creating
the most dangerous animal breeding soundtrack fun music of my life,
(17:47):
and we unleash it on stage every night. That's why
it's seventy eight. I don't look like those other seventy
eight years old because I've been clean and sober and
I let my life fly every day no doubt.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
My friend go to Technisian dot com tm ted, is
there any artists today? And the reason why I bring
up the breakdowns of songs like like you came up
with and others because we're going back to the seventies,
the eighties and nineties. We're going back to when music
had added a richness to it that meant you're not
going to release it if it doesn't make you feel
a certain way. Like today, we're just putting it out.
Just put it out. Download the MP three over here,
(18:18):
here's the latest album on Spotify. Whatever. Is there anybody
today that you think to yourself, that young person has it?
Is there anybody that you go, all right, I get
it if you're sixty four or older. This is critical.
Medicare is a nightmare in thousands of plans, confusing rules,
spam mailers, conflicting advice. It's all a mess. Let's clear
that up for you. Nobody in Washington, by the way,
(18:39):
really cares about whether you picked the right plan or not.
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It's not built for you. It's built for confusion. Chapter
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(19:02):
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Speaker 2 (19:09):
Well, first of all, I mentioned Chruck Barring Little Rich
and all the Motown masters, and certainly my buddies Tommy
Shaw with Sticks, My Damn Yankee, Buddy Jack Blades with
night Ranger. Now they're not new bands, but they still
keep that fire going. The Mitch Ryder band mate, Jim
McCarty and Johnny Banajik, they're still playing in Detroit. There's
a kid named Mark Cassa in Detroit that has a
(19:29):
band called Slight Return. There's a kid, he's a teenager,
called Sam Bittenbender. There's a new guitar player out there
called Jared James Nichols and Wes Jeans. These guys are
unleashing fire, grooves and energy every night. Now they're not
having hit wrecords right now, but they're still out there
performing and people are coming to see him. The Ted
(19:49):
Nugent is able to take my amazing band and do
gigs all across the Heartland in the summer of twenty
twenty six and have the time of my life. Certainly
a gift from God. So it's about the spirit of
the music. And there's Sam wherever. Sammy Hagar plays, that's
the real McCoy. That's Chuck Berry and bou Dilly. When
Sammy plays that's Little Richard, that's James Brown. So the
(20:11):
best music is still alive.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
And well, if you were starting today, could you be
who you are now? And I know it's a loaded question.
You obviously are somebody who's going to succeed no matter
what you try. I get it. You're an A type.
I'm an A type. People like us, we're gonna do something,
going to grind until we succeed. But if you were
just starting today, you were that eleven year old kid
at the soda shop or whatever it is, could you
have made it to where you are today? If you
(20:34):
are starting in today's music industry, which is light years
different than than the way it was in the sixties.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
You know, you say eleven year old at a soda shop.
I was an eleven year old at Waltz Malt Shop
on Grand River and Warwick Avenue, Detroit, nineteen fifty nine.
That was me. I literally know it.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
I know, Chad, That's why I said it.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Yeah, I know, but it needs to be emphasized because
that's not how you think it starts. But that's how
it can start wonderfully. Bo Diddley Licks and a couple
of kids would show up, and then the next night
at the Rosedale Park Theater, a couple more kids showed up.
Because I was really grinding. I wanted to be bothuck Berry.
(21:12):
So I think with my spirit my work ethic, and
that goes for all those bands I just mentioned, and
all your bands, even the music that I don't care for,
they all have an amazing work ethic because it takes
a lot of work to put these songs together and
make the band tight and authoritative. So that spirit and
that work ethic, I absolutely believe that if Ted Nuger
(21:35):
was born in nineteen ninety nine and I found a
malt shop that I could play chuck Berry and I
played it. Where my forehead you gotta have forehead veins popping.
I want to hear these four crescendos for every song,
and I want fingers to bleed at the end of
every set. And if you put that kind of passion
and energy into it, people will celebrate it with you.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Ways and again, Ted NuGen dot com, It's the MotorCity
Madmen rock and roll legend. Ted NuGen friend of mine
for over a quarter of a century. That's crazy had
you had the music ability that you have starting today
with more access because I think there might be a
positive to today's ability as well. You can press a
button and you're on the Internet and anybody who's got
(22:21):
an Internet connection might hear what you're doing. Might there
be a better way in for really driven people, very
intelligent musically people in today's day and age. I know
that the music industry is very different. I think there's
a lot of fake out there, a lot of people
not really doing what they pretend like they're doing. But
I think that if you're starting up in your Ted
Nugent in twenty twenty six, I think you press a button,
put it on the internet, you might be a sensation overnight.
(22:42):
I mean, is there an ability for young people to
take advantage of the new technology that we have?
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Well, channel Robert de Niro in Heat when he said
there's a flip side to that coin. So there is.
The flip side is not very pretty, and that is
that you can have. I think strength Hold is approaching
a billion what they call streams wow, and my Fred
Bhaer is approaching a billion streams because people love powerful, emotional, dynamic,
(23:13):
fun music. But in the old days, I could get
a couple bucks per album sold. I think if you
have a billion stream you might get twenty nine ninety five.
So capitalism is about putting your heart and soul into
creating a product or service that I was blind to
the compensatory consideration as well. They actually said compensatory considerations.
(23:39):
I wasn't. I wasn't aware of getting paid. I just
wanted to make music until I started realizing that instead
of ten people came to the gay get a buck ahead,
there was two hundred people. Well that's my money. They
came to see. They didn't come to see the walls.
So you have have And if you're going to put
a band together and get an amplifier and get guitar strings,
and get a van and get a trailer and pay
(24:00):
for the gas and change the oil and get new tires,
you got to get paid to keep afloat. That payment
has dramatically been reduced. And I know guys that bust
their ass, that are incredible virtuosos, and they can they
can barely pay the fee to keep that boat afloat
because the compensation in the in the music selling industry,
(24:23):
the records, the CDs whatever, I don't even know what
they are. Now you can't keep up. Now we're selling
a lot of my original vinyls. There's a new system
called nuge Vault, nuge vault dot com where we're getting
all this archives, all these old recordings and outtakes and
extra songs from the recording sessions of my forty million
(24:43):
albums sold and people are buying these. So I'm still
lucky that people dig into what makes Ted Nugent tick
and there's a lot of It's called nuge vault dot
com and it's it's a huge success because people want
to know what makes this maniac tick. And as soon
as you figure it out, call me, would.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
You it is a Ted newge and go to Ted
Nusi dot com, nuge vault dot com, go there as well,
and hunter nation dot org. Is that what it is?
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Dead? That's right, Joe, very important, Go.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
There and check all of those out. Let me throw
a name out and you might not even know much
of his music. But a guy who looks like he's grinding,
like he doesn't like he needs a job, and he's
very very successful, as Bruno Mars Bruno Omars goes on
stage and will perform and entertain you. I think that
his music is fun music. A lot of it is
in a major key, and it's danceable music. But he
(25:31):
looks like he's sweating his face off when he's out
there working it. He's not like these you know, all
packaged up and you know everything's perfect people. But I
think there's something about his ethic that reminds me of you.
Is that something or not, Well.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
It's not out of the ordinary that you identify that.
Because Bruno Mars is a musical force to reckon with,
because he's son of James Brown, He's son of Richard,
he is son of Michael Jackson, who whether people love
him or not, I don't know how I can't love him,
eve though we had a tragic life. But his work,
his focus on cultivating his musical gifts from God. That
(26:05):
describes Bruno Mars. I'm a huge Bruno Mars fan. But
let's get right to the important thing. Way more important
than Ted NuGen is my band. Way more important than
Bruno Mars is his incredible band. Way more important than
Bruce Springsteen is the East Street Band. So never forget
that these guys and us guys, we bust our ass
(26:27):
to deliver the musical beast to the best of our
ability every night. And that described Bruno Mars, which is
why you and I are huge fans of his.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
It is Ted Nudge. I'm a huge fan of his
because I think you nailed it. I didn't think about
it until you said it. But he is feeding off
of James and you know, Chuck Berry and all these
guys because he's not playing music that you would think
is typically twenty twenty six music. He's bringing us music
that's like seventies funk. He's bringing us like early eighties
you know, I mean the stuff that he's doing. And
(26:56):
then you're right, the band that he's got is amazing.
Let me circle back to something that you and I
know very well, which is work ethic. I got my
first job at twelve. I was cleaning out fish tanks
in South Florida. Twelve years old. I wanted twenty five
cents a day. You're at the malt shop, you know,
playing guitar, and you've been working ever since. We had
this work ethic. But Ted, any day of the week
on the news, we can see a teen takeover in Chicago,
(27:19):
in Detroit, in DC, ruining places, throwing chairs at the Chipotle,
attacking people because they're wearing the wrong jersey. What happened
to a work ethic where we were young, even preteens,
out there trying to make a buck cause we had
a future that we were looking at. What caused this today?
Is it bad parenting? Is it bad governance? Is it
bad teens? Why are we seeing this so much? Do
(27:40):
you think it's all.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Of the above? And that is a real heartbreak, a
real tragedy. It's a manifestation of a cultural abandonment, and
the parents are to blame. But at some point a
human being has a spirit and has a soul and
will look in the mirror because when you look in
the mirror, that's that's the guy who's responsible for all
(28:02):
your conditions in life. If you're having a hard time,
the guy in the mirror did that. So at some point,
even though your parents have abandoned you and let you
get away with murder and destroying things and being a
complete punk, at some point the spirit and brain has
to click on and go, you know, I should probably
do good. I should probably start stop being evil and
(28:26):
negative and destroying stuff. I should probably start taking better
care of myself and being responsible, but that's gone the
way of the Dodo bird, and that is one of
the great tragedies in America. Those monster kids and those
people destroying airports and McDonald's and doing what they do.
They should be put in a cage and hose down
(28:47):
until they wake up and quit that nasty law breaking behavior.
That is a real curse in America. And as we
get people from around the world coming to these sporting
events and coming to America and realizing that Americans don't
hate America. Just liberals hate America. Only democrats hate America.
And they've brainwashed a segment of society to just be
(29:10):
the worst that they can be. And remember when we
first started talking many years ago, and on this interview,
I improvise a daft and overcome. I'm having the greatest
year of my life. It's going to be the worst
for my enemies, but it's going to be the greatest
life for my nugent family, my friends, my band, my team,
my hunting buddies, because we take responsibility and when we
(29:32):
see our fellow Americans trashing cities and raping and pillaging
and carjacking and stabbing and robbing and just destroying property.
It breaks our hearts. So some law enforcement starts cracking
some skulls, start stopping these people from doing these because
(29:53):
the taxpayers have to clean up their mess. And that
is so anti American in the two hundred and fiftieth anniverse.
We got to stop this from stop it now.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
You know, we've got people like Brendan Johnson, who's the
mayor of Chicago, saying things like they just need a
place to gather, they just don't have enough to do. No,
I didn't need a place to gather. I needed a
place to go and figure out what my future was
going to be. But then again, I had a mother
who if she gave me the withering look, I was
scared to death. Like I had a father who I've
even looked my way I was running. So I mean,
we were kept in check and we learned values early on.
(30:23):
Can we save a generation that things taken over the
mall is the right thing to do?
Speaker 2 (30:28):
Joe, I don't know, it's so out of hand. But
once again, you've met my son, Toby, my son, Roka
my son fleets Dasha, Heather Chantelle. I have thirteen grandkids.
Now I got a new grandson, River Wolf, Nugent, Nice Lindusk.
You have to be accountable and actions have consequences, and
(30:51):
the abandonment of parenting, the abandonment of fatherhood, the abandonment
of goodwill and decency that runs amos. I have a
song called My Bow and Arrow, where the second verse
is I grew up into a world and I started
feeling strange. I saw the cities kill their souls, and
I started and so I grabbed my bow and arrow
(31:13):
and go down to the woods. We need to get
back to down to earth accountability. You will never be
happy if you don't produce. You can't go to bed
happy if you're not being productive, and you have a
vapor trail of positive. If you've got destruction, you are
a sad, soulless, heartless, bad human being. And the person
(31:34):
in the mirror is responsible. So I know we have
the right commander in chief. Now I know we have
an upgrade taken place in the United States of American government.
The bureaucracies can't be trusted, but we're on our way
to a better day. I'm hoping that the celebration of
two hundred and fifty years of the only experiment and
self government the history of the world will wake people up.
(31:56):
And there's so many great black leaders out there. I
mean Alan West and Sage and Kevin Cork and Jason,
so many great black leaders. They've got to get organized
and tell these blacks to stop destroying each other shooting instead.
What was there over one hundred shootings in Chicago's gun
(32:19):
free zone over the weekend, Something like a dozen killed
the people in the mirror did that? And nobody's raising
enough hell. I'd like to raise some hell. I wish
I could help. And I have a real America Voice
Spirit Campfire podcast, and I raise as much hell as
I can. You're doing a great job. There's so many
great voices out there. But we can't go downtown and
(32:40):
start beating people up. But somebody, mom and dad better
start beating people up. And if kids are destroying property,
make them pay for it. That's the only hope to
bring America back to this great, shining city on a hill.
Did I just quote Reagan? I think I quoted Reagan.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
I think you did. It was a great quote. And
by the way, it is important that that figures in
this country come out and do that because these team
takeovers are all young black people who are doing me no. Well, no,
they probably won't. But Ben Carson, you got Wesley Hunt,
I mean, and the members that you just named as well.
These are all great people that should be listened to.
(33:17):
And I think that we can bring this thing back.
Let me finish it here, Ted, I want to finish
it on the the status of masculinity in America. I
think under Obama we saw a very feminine man as
the President of the United States. I don't even hesitate
to say that he just is. And we had this
push that masculinity was bad, that patriarchy was bad. But
what you just talked about, what you and I have
(33:38):
been talking about for the past half an hour, is
that you do need a patriarch. You do need a
strong male figure to make sure that everybody stays in
the straight and narrow. Are we back? I feel like
we're back, But are we well?
Speaker 2 (33:50):
I I struggle with effervescent masculinity myself. I'm such a man.
I can hardly stand myself. I have two guns, now knives.
I'm surrounded by about billion rounds of AMMO. I got
over ten thousand horsepower. I got a truck over there
that only gets nine hundred yards to the gallon. I'm
such a man. I stand no and my son's But
(34:12):
you know what, My daughters are tough. My daughters are hunters.
My daughters have a garden. My daughters get their hands dirty.
My grandkids get their hands dirty. My grandkids catch fish
and turn them into family sized portions. We eat squirrel,
we plant trees. We work hard, We get dirty every day.
And once again, Ted Nugent's life is surrounded by those
(34:33):
kinds of rugged individuals that are not afraid to do anything,
not afraid to get dirty and get down and fix
stuff and repair stuff. And it's alive and well. But
I see a lot of wocification, a lot of spinelessness,
a lot of soullessness out there. But Joe, I think
you've nailed it. I think the patriarch, the man of
the household, the protector, the provider. A woman can do
(34:56):
most of that, and women can do what we can't do.
But a man's got to stand strong, take good care
of himself. I look at life as a building, and
if it catches on fire, as a man, I'm gonna
save everybody's life. In that building, I'm pant and like
those heroes on nine to eleven, I will run up
those stairs into the fire to save innocent people. And
(35:19):
that describes every man. I know, my ban my crew,
my management, my sons, my grandsons, and the women in
my life. The women in my life kick ass. The
women in my life would kick every Barack Obama's ass
that exists out. So I'm proud of that.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
Well, it's the same for the women. I've got five daughters,
as you know, I've got two granddaughters and a grand son,
So I'm with you. I mean, we're building a stronger society.
You build a strong society through strong men. And that
doesn't mean that women don't have to be strong. Like
you said, they could do things that we can't ever
even imagine doing. But with that a strong male figure,
it's sort of that guiding light and that compass in society.
(35:57):
We're going to be lost, and we were lost for
eight years under Obama. I believe that. And we're still
trying to weed out the idea that masculinity is somehow toxic,
which is ridiculous. Ted Nugent dot Com go there right now.
Check him out in a Real America's voice every weekend.
Check out Jamaine NuGen as well, the American Outdoor Sportsman
of the Year for twenty twenty six. It is our
good friend Ted Nugent. Ted, I can't thank you enough
(36:17):
the last one set of record. I'm guessing this one
is going to do just as good because if you're
attached to it, it's going to be a big, big
deal online. Thanks so much, Ted, appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Thank you, Bill. We have a first amendment and you
use it well. My friend. You aim small, miss small
with your first amendment. I salute you. Happy two hundred
and fifty of America. I love Real America.
Speaker 1 (36:36):
And we love Ted Nugeen. Go and check him out
Ted Nugeen dot com wherever. If he's performing near you,
make sure you get there. That's it for this on
the Unchecking and Unafraid podcast continues another one to drop
very soon.
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