Tony Levin on Playing Favorites

We recently had Tony Levin on a livestream to celebrate the California Guitar Trio's 30th anniversary. Our friend Octavio asked in the stream what Tony's favorite CGT song is to play and listen to. Tony's answer was unexpected and very wise! Take a listen.

Interview Transcript

AG: Tony, which is your favorite song from the CGT to play and to listen to?

TL: If you ask me my favorite anything is it's always the same. I'm not the kind of person who--I just don't go in that direction that I have favorites. I love all of their music and when we're playing live--there are some tours I do where some songs are more fun (not the trio), but where some songs are more fun than others. And as a player, I don't allow myself to have less than favorites.

So I feel that if some song just isn't captivating me, then that behooves me to put more effort into that part and make it have the potential to be a favorite. I've been that way for so long playing songs live that I kind of censor myself from having anything less than favorite. I try to be a fan of every piece that I'm playing. In the case of the trio, I've heard a lot of their music through the years, and I'm sorry, but I don't have a favorite