My interview w/ Greg Smith of Ted Nugent

BillyIVbass · #1 01-25-2011, 01:57 AM

Hey, I've been writing a guitar blog and jumped at the chance to interview Greg Smith of Ted Nugent's band.

I do this blog strictly for fun, no paycheck, so I figure it is cool to post.

Great player, funny guy and isn't afraid to bring his '66 Jazz bass out to a bar gig.

http://guitarvideochannel.com/blogs/...for-ted-nugent

bassbully · #2 01-25-2011, 11:07 AM

Nice Job..enjoyed the interview.

corinpills · #3 01-25-2011, 12:19 PM

Good questions- it's not easy coming up with compelling things to ask someone, good job.

JumboJack · #4 01-25-2011, 12:41 PM

Very cool!
Also...I liked the question about replacing a current band with an old one...My vote goes to Black Eyed Peas for Queen...

BillyIVbass · #5 01-25-2011, 02:37 PM

Thanks! My goal was to hit the "business" questions first then throw in some wild cards. Greg was great and didn't flinch at anything!

OldDog52 · #6 01-25-2011, 03:23 PM

Very good, enjoyed reading that.

rulyøngo · #7 01-25-2011, 06:53 PM

great!!! I was just watching a Ted Nugent dvd with Greg playing...

Lesfunk · #8 01-25-2011, 06:56 PM

Greg Smith... He played with Blackmore's Rainbow right?
I'll go read the interview now.

slaps76 · #9 01-25-2011, 07:02 PM

That's a great interview! Very entertaining...nice job.

oldbassplayergu · #10 01-25-2011, 07:07 PM

good read,enjoyed it alot. who would you like to interview next if you could?

AltGrendel · #11 01-25-2011, 07:16 PM

Good read, thanks for sharing.

RCCollins · #12 01-25-2011, 07:19 PM

"'Stranglehold' with a PICK, right?"

Lesfunk · #13 01-25-2011, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lesfunk

Greg Smith... He played with Blackmore's Rainbow right?
I'll go read the interview now.

Great Job! Yeah, Thats The guy I was thinking of. He's really good.
Say what you want about Nugent, He always hires great players.

BillyIVbass · #14 01-25-2011, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lesfunk

Greg Smith... He played with Blackmore's Rainbow right?
I'll go read the interview now.

Yes! Same guy. Not sure of the time line, but when I asked him for his most "Spinal Tap Moment" on the road he said, in Rainbow "His girlfriend's mom was the manager and I asked if we had learned NOTHING from Spinal Tap" haha

BillyIVbass · #15 01-25-2011, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldbassplayergu

good read,enjoyed it alot. who would you like to interview next if you could?

Hmm tough question. Probably someone like Will Lee or Lee Sklar. I'm always intrigued by the guys who can pretty much jump into any gig. Those guys also usually have the best stories.

BillyIVbass · #16 01-25-2011, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rulyøngo

great!!! I was just watching a Ted Nugent dvd with Greg playing...

Any idea the title of that DVD? I'd like to pick it up.

Watching him sing and play is downright crazy. I just saw him do cover stuff with friends. The set went from Iron Maiden to Stevie Wonder. No practice, just "Hey we'll give it a shot!"

jaywa · #17 01-25-2011, 07:56 PM

I would be curious to know how he deals with Ted's legendary stage volume. Did that ever come up?

Nice job.

BillyIVbass · #18 01-25-2011, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaywa

I would be curious to know how he deals with Ted's legendary stage volume. Did that ever come up?

Nice job.

Thanks! Would've been a good question to ask him. Greg uses 2 Hartke LH1000s into two 8x10s. That'd give him 2000 watts if needed, but he may also just run one and have the other for backup and to look meaner on stage.

I did read Ted suffers from hearing loss. My guess is he's toned it down from his early days.

We didn't talk too much on Ted. Just his Guantanamo Bay story, they will be touring this summer with a few one off's in the spring, Ted likes Stranglehold with a pick and that Ted mailed Greg a ton of meat for Christmas.

We also joked that Ted drives a military issued Hummer or a defense chopper to Burger King when he's craving a Whopper late night haha.

rulyøngo · #19 01-26-2011, 06:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillyIVbass

Any idea the title of that DVD? I'd like to pick it up.

Watching him sing and play is downright crazy. I just saw him do cover stuff with friends. The set went from Iron Maiden to Stevie Wonder. No practice, just "Hey we'll give it a shot!"

The DVD is Ted Nugent: Motor City Mayhem - 6,000th Concert (2009), highly recommended!!!

BillyIVbass · #20 01-26-2011, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rulyøngo

The DVD is Ted Nugent: Motor City Mayhem - 6,000th Concert (2009), highly recommended!!!

Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for it!