By Carl Hoover

Tribune-Herald entertainment editor

Veteran rocker Ted Nugent swings his Rolling Thunder 2008 tour through his home territory Sunday night with a show at Zack & Jim’s Hog Creek Icehouse.

Nugent, a McLennan County resident, plays in Waco after a July that saw the rock guitarist perform in six European countries and a June that saw a new CD/DVD release, Sweden Rocks, a live album that was recorded in 2006 at the Sweden Rocks Festival.

On July 4, Nugent marked the 50th anniversary of his stage debut as a 9-year-old guitarist with a concert in his boyhood hometown of Detroit.

He stars with country singers Toby Keith and Willie Nelson and comic Rodney Carrington in the feature film Beer For My Horses, which comes out Aug. 8 in select theaters. August also sees the publication of a new Nugent book, Ted, White & Blue: The Nugent Manifesto, with a blurb from Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

Sunday’s concert will feature Nugent with his sidemen, bassist Greg Smith and drummer Mick Brown. Opening for them is Crooked X, a quartet of teenage hard rockers from Oklahoma who’ve played with such acts as KISS, Alice Cooper and Nugent.

Nugent, 59, took some time out from a hectic road schedule to answer, via e-mail, some questions from the Trib, for which he writes a Sunday column.

Question: This summer you notched your 6,000th show and your 50th year since first taking the stage with a guitar. How many guitars have you gone through in that time? Any ear replacements or are yours warrior-grade?

Answer: One thing for sure is that I wish I had every guitar I have ever owned since the beginning. I failed to truly grasp the emotional and financial value those vintage instruments have.

Currently I have quite an arsenal of fine guitars that include numerous vintage Gibson Byrdlands and Les Pauls as well as true works of art by Paul Reed Smith. I use and abuse them all.

Q: Many of your fans now bring their kids to your concerts. Have any ‘fessed up that your music was playing in the background when those children were conceived?

A: Truth be told, my music represents the ultimate freedom soundtrack of defiance and from what I can tell, the soundtrack for the baby boom. I’m too sexy for my pickup truck.

Q: You have a new CD/DVD out, Sweden Rocks; a feature film, Beer For My Horses (with Toby Keith and Willie Nelson); and a new National Rifle Association theme song ( “I am the NRA”), all released in the same year. Are you laying the groundwork for a 2012 presidential bid?

A: Clearly, I am a very lucky man to be able to pursue my dreams and happiness at the things I genuinely crave. The only problem I have is that I have to turn down so many exciting, attractive offers simply due to running out of time each year. 

Q: Four Ted Nugents are in a room. One plays “Wango Tango,” another “Cat Scratch Fever,” a third “Stranglehold” and the last “Wang Dang Sweet Poontang.” Who’s the last Ted standing?

A: I believe you just described a four-headed beast that rules the earth, and the four of them dance wildly across the finish line together.

Q: Have you ever used your guitar strings to hunt with?

A: Not yet, but I know they would work as snares to catch varmints! I must give that a try.

choover@wacotrib.com

757-5749

—— Ted Nugent with Crooked X —-

Performance: 7 p.m. Sunday at Zack & Jim’s Hog Creek Icehouse, 6900 State Highway 6, near F.M. 185.

Tickets: $25 in advance, $30 on the day of the show. Advance tickets available at the Icehouse and Cavender’s Boot City in Waco and Temple.