Ted Nugent’s newest project involves recovering many of the unique video and audio recordings he’s accumulated throughout his career.
The recently launched Nuge Vault offers members access to “never-before seen or heard concert footage, archival audio, and much more.” In a recent conversation with Sirius XM’s Eddie Trunk, Nugent detailed the process of recovering this archival material, admitting it’s been a “pain in the ass.”
“When Jason [Hartless, Nugent’s drummer] and I were rehearsing for the Adios Mofo tour with Johnny [Schoen, bassist], we were in my big barn in Michigan and there’s just walls and acres, literally acres of boxes and crates and big giant piles of tapes and videos and CDs and cassettes and stacks of photos and, and rehearsals and jam sessions,” Nugent explained. “And I had kind of walked past it every day as I do in my daily life, but Jason stopped and looked at it and started digging into these boxes.”
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It was Hartless who spearheaded the Nuge Vault project, working with Nugent to go through his seemingly endless array of recordings.
“And so when Jason started digging into these boxes, his eyes bugged out,” Nugent continued, noting how extraordinary some of the material is. “Because who doesn’t want to hear the recording of Ted Nugent and Eddie Van Halen backstage in California jamming? Or with Billy Gibbons and so many amazing things that have taken place?”
A “jam session with the Mothers of Invention at the Fifth Dimension in Ann Arbor in 1967” was another uncovered gem Nugent pointed out, while expressing his gratitude for Hartless’ determination to bring the Nuge Vault project to life.
“When he shows me this stuff, I get teary eyed,” the guitarist admitted. “I go, God, I remember that. Hanging out with these guys backstage. What a lucky, lucky life. And it’s all chronicled.”
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Gallery Credit: UCR Staff