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00:00I get so far removed from the music that I can't wait to come into the man cave coups
00:04of dust arsenal of democracy surrounded by these magnificent animal heads and antlers and horns
00:09and spirit and ammo and guns and bows and arrows and guitars and amps. So when I pick up the
00:14guitar
00:14it's like the first time every time because I'm so removed from the music that I can't wait to
00:21find these sounds and these patterns.
00:24Rock, metal, prog, and everything in between. Welcome to this episode of Talkin' Rock with
00:31Meltdown. Don't forget to follow the audio-only Talkin' Rock podcast on all podcast platforms.
00:36And now it's time for today's conversation. Here's Meltdown.
00:40By the way, Meltdown, you have.
00:45I am your real all-American soul music shitkicker blood brother from the Motown den of the
00:53Funk Brothers and I bring you greetings and unlimited fire-breathing soul music in 2026
00:59because you need my songs. You need my guitar tone. You need my band. You need my piss and
01:04vinegar. You need my energy. You need my spirit. And more than anything in 2026, happy 250th
01:10anniversary, real America. I'm talking about real America, not the slithering snakes that
01:15don't like it here that should slither out of here. But anyhow, I bring you a bumper crop
01:20of middle fingers in 2026. So I'm feeling so good I might squirt through the airways and
01:26stain the soles of all the Ozzy Boneyard real music lovers. And you're talking about Fred
01:32Bear. That is the definition of real music lovers. Not only because it's just a great
01:38performance. Oh, my alarm's going off. That means I have to call you. But anyhow, not only
01:43is it a great performance by Gunnar Ross, God rest his soul, Michael Lutz, but what Fred
01:48Bear meant to me, like my mom, my dad, my brothers, my uncle, everybody's family. That song just
01:54doesn't represent the man Fred Bear. It represents all of our Fred Bears and the families who play
02:00the Fred Bear song. When their loved ones come home in a flag draped coffin, the hundreds of
02:07stories I've received, how that represents. Because my guitar playing comes from the soul and
02:14the scrotum, the most two important epicenters of quality of life in the history of the world,
02:19especially not just general souls and general scrotums, but my soul and my soul. I thought I
02:24might mention that. But yes, I hear these stories and people stop Shemaine and I on the street
02:29all over the country. Of course, I don't go over the country, just Texas and Michigan. But I am doing
02:34Ohio and Indiana and Wisconsin and Minnesota. I'm playing Missouri. I'm going to unload. Oh, I thought
02:38you weren't going to tour. I'm not touring. No bus for me. No TSA, no hotel rooms. I fly to
02:43the gay
02:43rock. My flame throwing T-Rex scrotum off. And then I come home to my dogs because they need me.
02:49My point being about Fred Bear. Yes, I've heard these stories. And if I had any more confidence
02:55in my musical and spirit and patriotic connection with people, my cup runneth over. So if I may,
03:03thank you, Meltdown. And thank you, everybody out there that expresses the love for my music.
03:08Obviously, Wango Tango, the greatest love song ever. People fall in love. Most of the odd,
03:12most of the baby boom, that was me. Anyhow, the point is, is that I know these stories and I
03:19cherish
03:19them. And you notice I haven't stumbled on a syllable yet expressing myself because ambiguity
03:26is kryptonite to the Nugent swamp. The point is, thank you, everybody. I love you more than you love
03:33me. And quite honestly, I know you love my music, but I love my music even more.
03:40And there he is, Ted Nugent, joining us here on WRAF. I appreciate it. Of course,
03:45you're going to be in Sterling Heights. You're going to be in Lexington. And you know what? I
03:48would rather ride my motorcycle like I did last year to Pawpaw, Michigan, than go to the east side.
03:54But Sterling Heights is going to be awesome. But I might join you in Pawpaw, Michigan on July 11th.
03:57Once again, you were there. You know, I've done so many gigs. I'm so lucky. How lucky can I be?
04:03I
04:03get on my wounded knees every day. And I say, thank you, Lord, for giving this Motown American
04:09and Rhythm and Blue is rock and roll dream. But come on, you've been to a million concerts.
04:16I've done over 7000. I think we did a bunch of gigs in Texas. There's Ted Nugent,
04:20shit, kicker, speakeasies. We did. I was on 7051 or 7052. Pawpaw, Michigan last year in 2025.
04:29It was out of body. The guitar tone, the spirit of the audience, the diversity in the audience,
04:34young and old and in every imaginable walk of life, the singing. How about this? Talking about
04:42a great blend of music celebration. They sang every word to Fred Bear and Stranglehold.
04:48And Wang Dang Sweet Poonsang. So, you know, I've made a connection that nobody else even knows
04:53available. So, yes, Pawpaw was magic. Sterling Heights is always magic. When I come back to
04:57Michigan, I've got to I've got to remind myself to breathe. I am so excited. I get so out of
05:05control. Have you noticed I get so out of control? But I use that out of control to play the
05:10most
05:11dynamic and authoritative, genuinely dedicated guitar music delivery every night. But you were
05:20there in Pawpaw. It was unbelievable. It was in a venue. It was in Pawpaw. It wasn't Cal Jam. It
05:28wasn't the Texas music fair. It was Pawpaw. And it was absolutely unbelievable, which proves that
05:34Johnny Big, Jason Heartless, my team, my crew. It doesn't matter when we when we rehearse in the
05:39barn. It's the most important performance of our lives. We want to get it as dynamic and as powerful
05:46and as grooving as possible. And we do that every night. So thank you, Jason Heartless from Sterling
05:52Heights and Johnny Big from Waco, Texas and all my band. Has God blessed me with the greatest musicians
05:59in the world forever or what? I keep in touch with Tom Noel, my first drummer, 1960 in Detroit,
06:07right off of Grand River. Tom Noel was my first drummer in the Lourdes and he and I keep in
06:13touch.
06:13So and Bill White, the first bass player in Michigan for the Amboy Dukes, Bill White and I keep in
06:19touch.
06:19I keep in touch with all these guys. And it's so motivating to hear the positive celebration of my
06:25music everywhere. I go. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Now you brought up Kale Jam and brought
06:31up some of these older shows and stuff. So I see a girl in the hair back as the loincloth
06:35next.
06:36What's going on with you? Is that what that my God, are you telling me I didn't get I haven't
06:40looked in a mirror in a long time? Oh, my goodness. Oh, you have a mirror right next to you.
06:44How does
06:44that happen? Because I do media all the time and I want to be as handsome as possible. And it's
06:48quite a
06:49chore. But yeah, I just didn't get a haircut this summer. I'm going to keep it until hunting season. So
06:54yeah, the hair is growing, whatever. My middle finger is expanding, whatever. My guitar tone
06:58is just out of this world. In fact, God called me the other day and he said, Hey, Uncle Ted,
07:02I don't remember authorizing that guitar tone. Where did you where did you come up with that
07:07guitar tone? I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. You can continue to pursue life living
07:11the pursuit of gonzo happiness guitar tone. But you might want to check in with me before
07:15you hit those sonic outrageous frequencies. I'm am I am I on fire? I'm on fire.
07:20You're always on fire. I apologize. Fat chance. You're always on fire. Hey, speaking of guitar
07:26tones, who else has great guitar tones in your in your mind? Well, you know, I'm such a hopeless
07:33music fan. I mean, I yeah, I'm a musician and I put my heart and soul into creating a guitar
07:40topographical spiritual adventure on my Gibson Birdline next in my Les Pauls and my PRSs.
07:45So I pursue it as a as an adventure. And as I started in 1955, 1956, when the first prototype
07:53Gibson Birdland from Kalamazoo, Michigan was on the cover of Chuck Berry's record. And I didn't know
07:59it at the time because I didn't know anything at the time. What was I seven years old or eight
08:02years
08:02old? But the point is, is that guitar tone consumes us. So I always wanted to sound like Chuck Berry
08:12and
08:12Bo Diddley. And then eventually, I think today I was playing my Birdlands today. I got these
08:19amplifiers. I can't believe I put down my guitar to call you. But here I am. It means you're really
08:24special. But so I'd like to think that my pursuit of guitar tone has no identity because I'm constantly
08:31pursuing it with playing around with amps and guitars and pickups. These mad scientists are creating
08:37these representations of the early 1950s and 60s Gibson PAF humbucker pickups. Peter Flynn out of
08:46Wisconsin. He's in a dungeon, you know, wrapping coils around magnets and coming up with these
08:51incredible pickups. So the guitar players in my life, Jared James Nichols, go see him. Wes Jeans from
08:58Texas, blues guy. Chris Duarte. Mark Farner, the guy in Detroit, Mark Cassa with a band called Slight
09:06Return. But right now, I would say if you could describe, which you really can't, but I'll give
09:12it a good shot. My guitar tone is a combination of Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan,
09:19Billy Gibbons, and Jimi Hendrix meets Leslie West. It's fat. It's rich by playing with the guitar knobs,
09:27which you watch. You know, my guitar licks are cool as hell. The best in the world. My guitar licks
09:32are cool
09:33as hell. But watch my right hand. Good luck with that. Watch my right hand. But I'm working the knobs
09:39and I'm working the toggle switch to get different tones in the song Hibernation and Migration. In fact,
09:46when we do Good Friends in a Bottle of Wine, I'm working the guitar knobs more than anybody ever has
09:52because
09:53I do Migration, Hibernation, Free Flight, Homebound, Earth Tones, Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall, and Sunrise,
10:01these instrumentals. Oh, and Scottish Tea from the Amboy Dukes. We weave in all these instrumentals
10:06and they all demand a different voice. And on my Gibson Birdland, through my custom amps and my
10:11twins, I can get an unlimited dimension of sonics and tonality and frequencies. And in one song,
10:20Good Friends in a Bottle of Wine, what happens in Stranglehold 2 to a great degree? I have over a
10:25dozen
10:25different voicings during the guitar, during the whole song, the opening riff, the big crescendos,
10:31the boleros, and then the solo network. I'm going from the front pickup to the back pickup,
10:36to the middle pickup, to the tones on, to the tones off, to tens. There are, somebody's calling me,
10:42to the tens on the volume, back down to the three and fours on the volume. So it's my, as
10:48an old,
10:48I'm an old man. I know you respect your elders. I'm 78 this year. I'm having more happiness.
10:55This is a miracle. I'm having more fun and more musical adventure with Johnny and Jason
11:04and my guitars and amps. This is, people don't believe me when I talk in these superlatives,
11:10but it's the only expression possible. It's 2026. If the, if the, if the 15 year old or the 30
11:18year
11:19old or the 20 year old Ted Nugent showed up, I'd kick his ass because I can't, I just got
11:24done
11:24filling feeders and checking traps and training my dogs. I have a whistle here. I train my dogs and
11:29my band. And so when I get done training my dogs and my, I I'm, I'm so, we've talked about
11:36this.
11:36I get so far removed from the music that I can't wait to come into the man cave,
11:41coups, dust arsenal of democracy, surrounded by these magnificent animal heads and antlers and
11:46horns and spirit and ammo and guns and bows and arrows and guitars and amps. So when I pick up
11:51the
11:51guitar on this, what is it? The 30th day of June, 2026. It's as if it, it's like the first
12:00time.
12:00I know that's hard to believe, but it's like the first time every time. Cause I I'm so removed from
12:07the music that I can't wait to find these sounds and these patterns. And it's basically again,
12:14going back to Chuck Berry and what the, the guitar players of today, I'm leaving out some guitar
12:18players. Oh, Phil X, who just did the triumph tour. Now he's out with Joey. These guitar players
12:24nowadays are the best guitar players that have ever lived. And I, I, they all inspire me.
12:30Really? I, I didn't think that, I didn't think that you would say that. That's, that's nice of
12:34you to say that's, that's humbling. But I've always said that people just don't listen. They go,
12:39well, he hates Joan Jack. I said, I love her. When I say I love her, they go, well, he's
12:43a hater.
12:43Except for the part where I said, I love her. People are retarded. I, by the way, all you retarded
12:49people stay on course, you're hysterical. And since Richard Pryor is dead, I need some hysterical
12:56laughter. And the idiots in the world who lie about me, I am laughing so hard. You inspire me
13:02to celebrate maximum good because you're so bad and ugly. Thank you. Stay on course retards. I love
13:09you. Well, he hates people except that I said, I love you. You numb nuts. Hey, what, what is it?
13:15What is it like being a roadie for Ted Nugent? Oh yeah. You'd have to, that'd be a great interview
13:20because I got a bunch of them. And again, I, there's nothing more, you know, again, everybody
13:25relax. I'm bragging, get used to it. It's not bragging. It's fat. It's a fact. There's only
13:32one guy in the history of the world that played this kind of music through a Gibson Birdland.
13:37It's a jazz guitar, but I fixed it. It's a jazz guitar made by the master luthiers in Kalamazoo
13:44in the fifties and sixties. It's got a hand carved North American spruce arch top. It's
13:49a, it's a hollow body. It has an incredibly low threshold of outrageous, uncontrollable
13:54feedback, uncontrollable. Those who can't control works with me. So the uniqueness of
14:02of the Gibson Birdland through a wall of fender amplifiers is the only example of that in the
14:09history of guitar playing. And it has its own purse. Each Birdland has its own personality
14:17because the spruce breathes and it has that rich fat tone that you hear on the beginning
14:22of cat scratch fever and stranglehold. And on my recent records, these songs, they have
14:27a certain vitality to the, to the extended tonations that are extremely top end frizzy and low end
14:35humming. And when you combine them the way I do by hitting it with the meat of my right
14:40hand to, to slightly mute and then completely mute. And then to barely mute, there's all
14:46kinds of levels of emotional intonations and frequencies that, that inspire. I turn it up
14:54and the guitar starts feeding back, but I can position my body so I can control which notes
14:59I do feed back. And it inspires me to play different. When I play the Les Paul and the PRS,
15:04I played the PRS exclusively with the damn Yankees. And you can hear that it's still
15:08my signature guitar style, but it has a slightly different approach to the song applications because
15:15I so revere Tommy Shaw and Jack Blades and Michael Cardelloni. So it just happened to be that when the
15:20damn Yankees got together to see if there was going to be a damn Yankees, I had a PRS handy.
15:25And when Tommy and I started writing songs, I played the PRS with respect for the ideas that Tommy
15:32and I were sharing and coming up together. And it was just a spontaneous and organic,
15:37but the Gibson Birdland, I saw Jim McCarty with Billy Lee and the Rivieras who turned into Mitch
15:43Ryder at the Wadley Casino, 1962, playing a Gibson Birdland through Fender Amps. And I went,
15:49oh my God, listen to the spread of frequencies and, and percussiveness and richness to that.
15:57So from that day on, 1962, I was going to get a Gibson Birdland. And I did from
16:03the Roselle School of Music, Lyle Gilman, his name is Lyle. I got my first one, 1965 for a thousand
16:10dollars. I didn't even have 50 cents, but I worked out a deal and I've been playing the Birdland since.
16:14And it, it, and any guitar player will tell you, Jared James Nichols grabbed one and jammed with me
16:21in Kentucky a couple of years ago. And all I saw was teeth and eyeballs because it made him play
16:27different. And he's an incredible virtuoso so that he could command the typically uncontrollable
16:35feedback of a Gibson Birdland was a testament to his incredible touch with the guitar. So I know that
16:41was a long answer, but I'm really good at long answers because it's really important to me.
16:45And I have a lot of things to say about the uniqueness of a Gibson Birdland and the way that
16:50she delivers my dream sounds. That's, that's what music is. Dream sounds and lyric and fortification.
16:59Well, let's switch gears here to the, to the hall of fame. And of course not the rocket roll hall
17:04of
17:04fame, but I didn't, I didn't realize you weren't in the Michigan outdoor hall of fame. How does that
17:07happen? Well, there's a lot of hillbillies out there that were a little bit confused by the
17:12Motor City Madman. And I love the hillbillies of my friends. So I think the most important thing is
17:18that they, they have meetings and Richard P. Smith, probably one of the most revered conservation
17:23voices and outdoor writers up in the upper peninsula. Richard Smith is the master of all
17:28things, conservation, wildlife management, wildlife reverence, and, and, and, and resource stewardship,
17:34all the important things that bring healthy wildlife and healthy environment. And he has nominated
17:39over the year. And Jimmy Seitz, who has a TV show called spiritual outdoors, got, got, got a hold of
17:45some of them boys at the outdoor legends hall of fame. And they said, have you ever watched Ted Nugent
17:52talk about conservation? He's the best. And I am the best because I take it globally. I don't preach
18:00to the choir, even though the choir is paying attention. You saw my testimony at the embarrassing
18:06Michigan DNR goons. And I'm the only guy who takes these people on. So I'm being given conservationist
18:14of the year in Springfield, Missouri on August 8th and inducted into the legends of outdoors hall of
18:20fame. And on August 7th, outside of Claire, Michigan, I'm being inducted into the Michigan outdoor hall of
18:27fame. And I'm very honored. And I'm on behalf of Fred bear and my dad and real conservation families
18:34across this great land. I take it on behalf of their dedication to conservation and wildlife
18:40management. I'm very honored. Yeah. And Claire, Michigan, you got to stop at a cops and donuts while you're
18:45there, right? I will do that. I won't eat one, but I will stop there. Hey, you know, somebody was
18:52telling
18:52me the other day they have family coming in from Wichita and they said they wanted to do some Michigan
18:56stuff. So if you had someone coming into Michigan for the first time or whatever, where would you take
19:01him? What's the place Ted Nugent would take somebody from out of the state? I would say go to
19:05Grayling to the Fred bear statue, um, realize what a powerful force he was in real environmentalism,
19:12uh, hunting, fishing, trapping, resource stewardship, real conservation, putting wildlife in the asset
19:17column, um, and revering God's miraculous nature that provides us quality of air, soil and water only
19:23based upon wildlife habitat improvement, which is paid for by hunters, fishermen, and trappers.
19:28Duh. Um, so, uh, Fred bear is a powerful force. Our conversation started with the song, Fred bear,
19:34um, paying tribute to this great leader of conservation, but I would say, uh, up in the
19:39upper peninsula, go to the Taquamanan falls. Um, just, just look at the Mackinac bridge, maybe go
19:45to Mackinac Island. I've never been to Mackinac Island and I'm the czar of Michigan. I would say go
19:50downtown Detroit and witness, um, the history of the greatest music in the world stopped by Hitzville,
19:57USA on West grand Boulevard. Uh, go to, uh, Jay's sporting goods and Claire and fondle hardware
20:04and buy some guns and ammo. Um, those are the kinds of things. Frankenmuth with the great
20:08restaurants and Frankenmuth go eat Polish food in Bay city. Am I hitting all the hot spots here?
20:14Are these the greatest spots go to pop on, go to the vineyard, um, and get some Michigan wine. Um,
20:20I had a sip. It was delicious. Uh, there's so many things. I, Michigan is my beloved birth state.
20:25I think I hit all the hot spots. Um, there's so many, you know, go anywhere in Michigan,
20:32stop by a burger spot or a bar. And I've never sat at a bar in my life. Well, one
20:39time up in
20:39Northern Michigan, I sat at a bar and had a burger, um, in between deer hunts, but meet the people.
20:45What wonderful. I went to pick Shemaine up at Metro airport yesterday and I stopped by the,
20:52uh, the Coney Island place and a little restaurant called Beirut. I was in Beirut,
20:58Michigan. What the hell? And, and the huge black dude, when I walked in the huge,
21:05and I don't even look like Ted Nugent anymore. So the huge black dude, I mean, this, this is a
21:09tribute
21:09to the proudest successes of my life. This huge black dude went, Hey, you uncle Ted.
21:17And I said, yes, sir. Full time ago. I love your mini hugged me. He hugged me. He hugged me
21:22a giant
21:23bear hug. Um, nicest people in the world, people at the curb at Metro coming up and saying, and thanking
21:30me. They mentioned Fred bear everywhere we go. The nicest people in the world are Michigan people.
21:39They have an attitude, a positive spirit. They're funny. They're cocky. Um, and they're loving. So
21:46anytime you spend in Michigan, um, stop anywhere. And I bet you're going to run into great people,
21:53friendly people. Yeah. It's funny. My, my son was in a, at the airport yesterday. I was going to ask
21:57you, do people recognize you when you start walking through the airport? I mean, you're, you're not a,
22:00you're not a small guy. Yeah. Yeah, they do. Um, and it's a real testament because I don't,
22:08I don't really look like me, do I? Um, but, but I think I, I think I exude a certain
22:18spirit. Have
22:20you noticed that I exude a certain spirit, but I'm telling you the love fest, the kindness,
22:26they all have great stories and almost all it's a, it probably 50, 50 between hunting outdoor stories
22:35and rock and roll music stories. So my dream, I didn't, I couldn't have told you what my dream
22:42was when I was a kid, but I knew what it was. And it was to spend as much time
22:46in the woods and in the
22:47swamps and the rivers of Michigan and to rock my balls off as often, off often as possible.
22:54It's 78 years later. That's exactly what I'm doing. That's how I'm living by hunting. Ted Nugent,
23:03spirit of the wild TV show for 37 years, our sunrise safaris. We have a packed camp every weekend here
23:10in Jackson County at sunrise acres. People come out to, you know, the best pork in the world is
23:14angry pork and they come out to kill some angry bacon with uncle Ted. Can you imagine more fun in
23:19the world than a campfire with a squealing pig and an arrow through his pump station with uncle Ted
23:25playing Fred bear on acoustic guitar? Can you, most people couldn't even handle that. You got,
23:30in fact, I'll tell you, keep in touch. You're going to come to sunrise acres and witness these great
23:36people. If you spent a campfire and I do it every week between now and probably Thanksgiving,
23:44the nicest, the most from welders and farmers to, to plumbing business owners, to entrepreneurs,
23:53every walk of life, shit kickers, working hard, playing hard, the nicest, most down to earth, funny,
24:01good people you'll ever meet. You'd think that the world was perfect. If you spent a campfire with me
24:06and my son, Toby and my son, Rocco, Shemaine shows up, the dogs are there, Sadie, Jackson, and Coco.
24:12So this is where my inspiration comes from. It comes from the people who stopped me at a Coney Island
24:18and give me a hug and
24:19tell me they love my music. Or a person at the, at the curb says, Hey, we watched your spirit
24:24of the
24:24wild show. And my kid wanted to get a bow and arrow. So I got him a bow and arrow.
24:27Now he's
24:27addicted. All he wants to do is shoot his bow and arrow and kill deer. What a great, what a
24:31great
24:32relationship. Are you kidding me? It's awesome. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. I love you people.
24:38All right. Final thing here for you, Ted, looking back on, on your, on your vast career,
24:41who are some of the best bands and some of the best tours that you had?
24:45Boy talking about the best. Oh, come on. I mean, I've had every greatest band in the world open up
24:52for me. I mean, I've toured with kiss and Aerosmith and ZZ top and cheap trick and journey and Mark
24:59Farner. And, uh, I mean, I, ACDC open, uh, uh, some of the names I can't remember what, what's the
25:07band, uh, uh, Pyromania. What's that band? Oh, Def Leppard. Yeah. Def Leppard. I love Def Leppard.
25:13Sorry. I don't remember that. Um, Def Leppard. I love it. I love pop music. Def Leppard. I've,
25:16I've had Bon Jovi open for me at Cobble Hall. I mean, I've had the, the best bands in the
25:21world,
25:22um, share a stage and I always pay attention. The Amboy Dukes played with the who in 1969
25:30at the Southfield gymnasium high school. Um, we've played with the best bands in the world. I, I, I,
25:37I've had, uh, Lemmy and Motorhead open up for me over in Europe. Um, just the best bands. I'm so
25:44lucky. I mean, I, I could name all, I'll tell you what you name all your favorite bands and I've
25:50shared
25:50the stage with them. I mean, you look at the rosters of these different jams where there's
25:54been a hundred thousand people, Sammy Hagar, my God, Van Halen. Um, I I've played with everybody. I jammed with,
26:02uh, uh, John Entwistle and Brian May at the NAMM show, uh, get up on stage and jam with them.
26:08I
26:08mean, yikes, how, how lucky can I be? And, and I take that to heart because they're all incredibly
26:18dedicated, virtuoso world-class musicians, but they're all really great people. They're really
26:23fun people to hang out with. So I'm a lucky guy. Well, I'll tell you what, Ted Lexington coming up
26:28on
26:28Tuesday, the eighth Sterling Heights on Friday, the 10th and a July 11th pop on.
26:32I might just have to make a track back down to Pawpaw, Michigan. So much fun there last year.
26:36It really is. And again, once again, thank you. And you see the spirit of the audiences. I have
26:40the best audiences in the world. 2026 that I'm having the most guitar music fun of my life. Again,
26:47Johnny big, what a God of thunder rhythm and blues. Johnny big from Waco, Texas, incredible bass virtuoso,
26:54incredible vocalist. Jason Heartless, probably the best drummer in the world. We are like a locomotive and we
27:01don't just go off the tracks. We, we defy the tracks. It's the band is so tight. We play so
27:07tight
27:07and so dynamic that when we get on stage, in fact, I think you might've witnessed it where Johnny and
27:12Jason, I put our fists together and we push like angry wolves of the last scarred of venison. And we
27:17push and we go, James, we're auditioning for James Brown tonight. You got to be perfectly tight because
27:26James Brown is on. So if we can audition, by the way, we get the gig every night because we,
27:32we focus on the tightness, the dynamic, the power, and mostly we exaggerate the dynamics. When it comes
27:39down, it comes down, not to one or two, it comes down to zero and then goes up to 10.
27:44So we really are,
27:45the music is more fun, more authoritative. And I give it all the credit to my band and my crew.
27:51I
27:51got the best people. So I'm an inspired young man. Thanks for letting me mouth off on my, my Detroit
27:56radio station and wherever you may take this. But once again, to all those real music lovers out
28:01there, I've been doing this for 70 years. I started playing in Detroit 70 years. It's hysteric. I'm a
28:08funny man. And in 2026, that I can have more fun and more musical intrigue and adventure.
28:17And when I get off stage, I'm spent, but I am so happy because what Johnny and Jason do to
28:25my songs
28:26every night is every musician's dream. So thank you, everybody. Thank you for letting me mouth off.
28:31I appreciate it because you and I are real music lovers. That's right, man. Have a great
28:35Independence Day, 250th birthday. Yeah. Every day is Independence Day. Every day is Thanksgiving.
28:41Every day is Veterans Day. Every day is Memorial Day. And every day is Father's Day. And every day
28:45is Rock and Roll Day. Write that down. Check out Talking Rock with Meltdown on all podcast platforms and
28:51WRIF.com.
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