In Conversation with Ted Nugent: ‘Detroit Muscle,’ Musical Influences, Living Sober, and Whether Dudes Can Get Pregnant [w/ Audio]

Here’s something most folks don’t get to say too often — Ted Nugent called my house the other day. With the recent release of his 16th studio set, Detroit Muscle, the Motor City Madman currently is in full-on promo mode. As a result, I was fortunate to chat with the rock and roll legend for a few minutes about the new record, as well as an array of other fascinating topics. This is a “highlight reel” from that conversation.

Before reading on, dig, if you will, the entire Ted Nugent conversation by mashing this SoundCloud and/or YouTube link.

“It’s my honor to celebrate my music on behalf of my band, my crew and real music lovers,” Nugent began, oozing his signature-style gusto. “There’s a huge army of good, good people out there across the globe that stand with truth, logic and common sense and celebrate real soulful music. So, this is a great time for us in a world of treachery.”

A snappy little record, would Nugent agree that Detroit Muscle reaches back far enough stylistically to feel familiar while leaning forward far enough to be fun and fresh?

“Ditto, ditto, ditto, Christopher — yes! I have one foot back in the Aboriginal original campfire with Erg, the original spirit-throwing warrior in the year four. I have one foot in that camp! And I straddle Chuck Berry and Bo Diddly and Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis and Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters and B.B. King and Freddy King and Albert King and Motown. So, I literally immerse myself in the primal scream, the musicality of the primal scream by those heroes I just mentioned. Yeah, they’re old school, grinding rhythm and blues, Motown funk brother Chuck Berry, Bo Diddly licks, but they’re MINE. They’re mine because my guitar neck has unlimited topography and magnificence. I’m on my guitar neck every day. And when you’re surrounded with just unbelievably dedicated virtuosos, like Greg Smith (bass) and Jason Hartless (drums), yes, it’s as old and primal as it can be. But it’s also futuristic in its grind and its movements and its tonalites. And lyrical fun and lyrical sincerity. So, yeah, I’m ‘hanging ten’ on the surfboard of one hell of a wave of forward motion. It’s forward momentum fun music.”

Artwork for the album ‘Detroit Muscle’ by Ted Nugent

The title, Detroit Muscle, reflects a lot of Nugent’s hometown pride, while the music reflects a lot of heartfelt American pride. How conscious was Nugent in getting those two messages across?

“I don’t want to get too deep, because it is primal and instinctual, and urgent and raw — none of which takes any thought. But when you’re absolutely pure and raw — when you approach life like that — you know I’m a hunter, I kill my own food, I kill my own clothes, I farm and I ranch, and I revere the God’s miraculous creation as a hands-on Aborigine. So,  I am the only really functioning primal guitar player that actually creates licks and songs with blood and guts — not just under my fingernails, but in my DNA. So, when I sit down with the guitar, there is NO thought. It’s Samurai. It’s out-of-body. What it causes me to do is really challenge myself to accurately articulate the impetuous and the joys and the dreams and the adventure and the frustrations — the good, the bad and the ugly.”

He elaborates much further, adding:

“Going back to The Amboy Dukes and The Damn Yankees and all my solo stuff, it’s always been high-energy, intense crankmasters on those records. But there’s also been some soothing instrumentals, some soothing songs — ‘You Make Me Feel Right At Home’ on the Ted Nugent first solo album, that was a jazz song. The point being is that, yes, I live and breathe my American dream. So you’re gonna get Detroit muscle that celebrates Detroit — horsepower muscle and Detroit musical muscle. Yes, you’re gonna get an American campfire, because I have an American campfire every few days of my life. And yes, you’re gonna get ‘Feedback GrindFIRE,’ because I need to sing a volatile love song to Mrs. Nugent. And ‘Leave the Lights On,’ that happened when I lost my beloved brother John two years ago. AND ‘Alaska,’ where I celebrate her magnificence, and I have a tear of blood at the abuse of irresponsible man and industry. YES, it’s quite a smorgasbord of emotions and sensations and middle fingers on fire and tears and all of the above. It represents my life.”

His dedicated commitment to leading a clean and sober lifestyle continues to be a major component of the Nugent brand.

“Because I’m clean and sober, nothing escapes me. It ALL settles into my musical arsenal, and I can call upon it ballisticly and accurately every time. So, you hear an amalgamation of my life experience. Being clean and sober, I have a more complete arsenal than anybody who wasn’t. I’ve had intimate time with the world’s greatest musical forces. And RARELY could they form a sentence. It increasingly fortified my will, my determination to never poison myself so that I turned into that drooling, stumbling idiot. I don’t mean to call anybody an idiot, but if you’re doing that, I’m sorry — you’re an idiot!”

A final non-musical question for the Nuge — Can dudes get pregnant?

“I can promise you, that is a negative. Regardless of what the liars, and the haters, and the scammers, and the Marxists, and the U.S. government, and the media, and the fact checkers, and even my friend Bruce Jenner — no matter what they say, there are only two genders. You can play with them all you want, and to each his own, but if you’re a man, you’re a man. And if you’re a woman, you’re a woman. And if you have some maligned, misadjusted, wrongly placed plumbing, we pray for you. You can fantasize all you want and you can dress how you want, but, IF-YOU’RE-A-MAN, you CAN’T destroy women’s athletic records! You are a horrible, horrible human being. And anybody who supports a man destroying women’s athletic records is rotten-to-the-core! CASE FUCKING CLOSED!”

Dig, if you will, my entire Ted Nugent conversation by mashing this SoundCloud and/or YouTube link.

Ted Nugent Detroit Muscle U.S. summer 2022 concert tour dates

Jul 15 2022 Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL
Jul 16 2022 Florida Theatre – Jacksonville, FL
Jul 17 2022 Barbara Mann Performing Arts Hall – Fort Myers, FL
Jul 19 2022 Plaza Live – Orlando, FL
Jul 23 2022 Arcada Theatre – St. Charles, IL
Jul 24 2022 Arcada Theatre – St. Charles, IL
Jul 27 2022 Heritage Hall – Ardmore, OK
Jul 28 2022 Skyline Event Center at Osage Casino – Tulsa, OK
Jul 29 2022 Billy Bob’s Texas – Fort Worth, TX
Jul 30 2022 Warehouse Live – Houston, TX
Jul 31 2022 Soul Kitchen Music Hall – Mobile, AL
Aug 02 2022 Mars Music Hall – Huntsville, AL
Aug 04 2022 Freeborn County Fair – Albert Lea, MN
Aug 05 2022 Kansas Star Casino – Wichita, KS
Aug 06 2022 Star Pavilion at Ameristar Casino – Kansas City, MO
Aug 09 2022 Palace Theatre – Pittsburgh, PA
Aug 10 2022 RiverPark Center – Owensboro, KY
Aug 11 2022 Rose Music Center – Huber Heights, OH
Aug 12 2022 Express Live – Columbus, OH
Aug 13 2022 Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre – Detroit (Sterling Heights), MI
Aug 14 2022 Riviera Theatre – North Tonawanda, NY
Aug 15 2022 Riviera Theatre – North Tonawanda, NY
Aug 17 2022 Keswick Theatre – Philadelphia, PA
Aug 18 2022 Penn’s Peak – Jim Thorpe, PA
Aug 20 2022 Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom – Hampton Beach, NH
Aug 21 2022 Santander Performing Arts Center – Reading, PA
Aug 23 2022 Lexington Village Theatre – Lexington, MI
Aug 25 2022 Soundstage at Graceland – Memphis, TN
Aug 26 2022 Spellman Amphitheater – Forney, TX
Aug 27 2022 Backyard Amphitheater – Fredericksburg, TX