Yesterday, along with my wife and two young daughters, I had the pleasure of meeting Ted Nugent at the Maryland State Fair. While I have long been a fan of his music, only after recently reading his best-selling book God, Guns and Rock n’ Roll, have I appreciated him for his loyalty to our country, his family values and his dedication to protecting our 2nd Amendment rights.
Ted Nugent was as funny, personable and politically incorrect as I’ve read that he is. Earning the nickname “Uncle Ted”, he spent the majority of the time speaking to my 4-year-old, Brianna. She couldn’t have been happier, as she actually does like his music and talked about meeting “Nuge” the whole car ride to the fair.
Even with her, though, Nugent managed to turn the conversation to hunting. When she told him that her favorite song was "Mary Had a Little Lamb" (not "Cat Scratch Fever" as we had rehearsed!) he replied as quickly as a machine gun, “Yes, Mary did have a little lamb…and I shot it.” While that comment stunned her and may have been a little over her head, it didn't overshadow his redeeming qualities.
Before leaving to enjoy the rest of our day at the fair, “Uncle Ted” asked Brianna to hold his hand and make him a promise that she would be a good girl to Mommy and Daddy, and to her little sister, Alyssa, and that she would never smoke cigarettes because they would “make her smell like a dirty, stinky hippie.” When she agreed, he reached into his pocket and handed her a signature guitar pick. That little piece of plastic made her day and the promise made mine.
The ensuing concert was an energetic love fest for America right from the opening, as Nugent carried a huge flag across the stage and over the sound of a single guitar recited the Pledge of Allegiance before diving into his soulful performance of the "Star Spangled Banner." He was, as he repeatedly stated, “high on freedom”
Watching my children dance through the rest of his set, I realized that this was the first concert they had been to and unlike other artists’ performances; this one had a positive message. Ted Nugent was not shy about letting the audience know this was a pro-military, pro-gun and pro-America concert and that it was against anyone who would try to take our rights away. This was definitely different from any rock concert I’d ever been to, but the combination of the music, the patriotism and my family, made this the best one by far.
