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Do you ever surprise yourself?

Ok, so let me preface this with the caveat that I've not actively toured in 5 years. About six months after getting married I realized I wasn't the sort of person who could pull off both being married and being a full time musician. (Props to those of you who can). I don't regret anything, but this morning I ran across a copy of one of my band's old CDs and threw it in the stereo just for kicks.

I'm a mediocre bassist at best compared to a lot of the people on TB, and I'm not using this as an opportunity to brag, but I was surprised at some of my old bass lines. I had forgotten how much I liked them, and how good some of them sounded. Of course there were places where I say "why didn't I play that differently?" but there were also times where I was like "wow I played that?" and "Daaaayum, listen to that killer tone!"

So, Justin, I guess the question in all of this is are there any times when you listen back over old recordings and are pleasantly surprised by anything that you've recorded? Innovative lines, awesome tone, etc...?
 
Sure. I think everyone does that. Some of the unreleased Beck stuff that's sitting in the vaults, Ima Robot, Medicine, Air, Tori, Macy, other random stuff. I've had listens and been very pleased.

On the other hand, occasionally I'll hear something I did and go: "that's kinda weak, dude!"

JMJ