These days Ted Nugent spends so much time talking about hunting and conservative politics that it’s easy to forget he’s been performing for more than 50 years, playing some 6,000 concerts and selling 30 million albums.
This week, Nugent, 62, will play one of the more surprising concerts of his career, sitting in with legendary jazz combo the Les Paul Trio.
amNewYork spoke with Nugent.
How did you wind up playing with the Les Paul Trio?
Who wouldn’t want to jam with Ted Nugent? You want to go to musically adventurous mountaintops? Call me, baby! They have a well-deserved reputation for virtuosity and musical spirit. Who deserves me more than that?
Do you worry your political outspokenness on Fox News or CNN will overshadow your music?
Nah. They’re both so powerful, they stand on their own. My music is the soundtrack for ... don’t-tread-on-me rugged individualism and self-government. My politics is my music is my politics.
Any truth to the rumors that you might take over Glenn Beck’s show?
There’s truth that there is a rumor. I’m not an anchor kind of guy — I’m a mobile kind of guy. I love to tour. I can’t be nailed down yet.
What about running for office?
If I were to sacrifice mobility for tied-down responsibility, it would be for politics before media, because politics is such a royal clusterf--- right now.
Do you like spending time in NYC, a bastion of liberalism?
[New Yorkers] are my people. They’ll see me and say, “Hey, Uncle Ted, what are you hunting this week?” or “Hey, Uncle Ted, keep standing up for our rights.” These are cops, firemen, guys in delis. I connect with New York better than Bloomberg or Cuomo. I’m not a weirdo — it’s the liberals that are the weirdos.
This week, Nugent, 62, will play one of the more surprising concerts of his career, sitting in with legendary jazz combo the Les Paul Trio.
amNewYork spoke with Nugent.
How did you wind up playing with the Les Paul Trio?
Who wouldn’t want to jam with Ted Nugent? You want to go to musically adventurous mountaintops? Call me, baby! They have a well-deserved reputation for virtuosity and musical spirit. Who deserves me more than that?
Do you worry your political outspokenness on Fox News or CNN will overshadow your music?
Nah. They’re both so powerful, they stand on their own. My music is the soundtrack for ... don’t-tread-on-me rugged individualism and self-government. My politics is my music is my politics.
Any truth to the rumors that you might take over Glenn Beck’s show?
There’s truth that there is a rumor. I’m not an anchor kind of guy — I’m a mobile kind of guy. I love to tour. I can’t be nailed down yet.
If I were to sacrifice mobility for tied-down responsibility, it would be for politics before media, because politics is such a royal clusterf--- right now.
Do you like spending time in NYC, a bastion of liberalism?
[New Yorkers] are my people. They’ll see me and say, “Hey, Uncle Ted, what are you hunting this week?” or “Hey, Uncle Ted, keep standing up for our rights.” These are cops, firemen, guys in delis. I connect with New York better than Bloomberg or Cuomo. I’m not a weirdo — it’s the liberals that are the weirdos.
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