Well, it all depends on the musician, and whether or not he plays to impress himself or to impress others...

We are all motivated for different reasons when it comes to excelling on the guitar. For everyone, it takes time to find their sweet spot, and what type of music best represents their overall personallity, but there are a lot of musicians who get tired of searching and would rather just take the fast road to whatever sounds seem to garner them respect by legions of fans. But what really matters as a musician is whether or not you respect yourself, and if you ask me, there are a lot of musicians today who don't necessarily respect themselves because they are still unpracticed, and searching for meaning, (which shows in their music, and lack of new ideas.) But for a lot of reasons they choose to not let this bother them, because once you reach a high level of success, you tend to cast away your original intentions, and your overall love for music in an attempt to gain recognition. Fore a lot of people, being noticed is most important on their agenda...

Its hard toi explain in one (gulp), but music that is played with passion can come from just about anywhere, as long as you truly believe in the sounds you have created, and believe in yourself as well. There are too many imitators today, Ide love to see the return of the guitar heros, instead of the lame excuses of musicians that we have been forced to endure and accept.
Don;t get me wrong, there are a lot of talented musician that are still fortunate enough to grace the charts, but still theres a big void that needs to be filled. We could either waiting patiently for the next big, or we could create our own...

When it comes to blues, and shred music, the blues is what inspires me the most, and I guess it comes from my childhood and dealing with my imediate re-action as to what sounds real. But still, I love listening to Yngwie, Vai, Satriani, these guys are amazing, and I really feel thrilled that I can play a few parts from their major compsitions very accurately...

-Joseph