Motivation? Bruce Hornsby says he needs to look no further than his love of music for inspiration. I just want to be proud of what I do. I just want to do this better and be proud of what I do. Thats hard enough, says this artists artist. His fans might suggest that Hornsby makes it look and sound so easy a compliment to his artistry, which includes singer, pianist, songwriter, producer, bandleader and in-demand guest musician. I just go where I go and hope that the people that liked us before will follow, he says.

Its been obvious in his body of work that Hornsby is interested in the broad spectrum of music, following his muse in choosing solo, group and guest projects. Ive had a great several years where I was asked to do a lot of very nice things. That was very flattering, Hornsby says. Ive never had this major agenda where I say I want to play with all these people. Its been really great. Ive played with the people I want to play with. Now my goals are personal. Theres more I want to be proud of.

Here Come The Noisemakers, whose title takes its name from a Virginia Beach club called The Cave where he played gigs in the late 1970s, fits that tuneful bill. Seems a club regular, wishing that Hornsby and his group would play more Lynyrd Skynyrd, referred to Bruce & Co. as The Noisemakers. The Grammy winner calls this, his first live album, the best record he has made so far. Hornsbys 15-year recording career is represented in the two-CD set of 18 songs. It was made in a year of concerts from late 1998 to late 1999, including performances at the Woodstock festival, episodes of PBS Austin City Limits and BETs Jazz Central.

Hornsby says he wanted to show all of what he and his musicians do. He wanted to try to create a document that presents the different sides of the band. Im a person into lots of different kinds of music. I always tried to fuse those disparate elements into pop songwriting, jazz and folk music in particular, he says. If I have anything to offer thats different, its probably that.

On the magical night that Cal Ripken played himself into baseball history, the significance wasnt lost on music fans that Bruce Hornsby had been chosen to perform the National Anthem. Who better to be on hand to give musical witness to Ripken breaking the thought-to-be unbreakable consecutive games streak of Lou Gehrig than rock and pops own gamer, Bruce Hornsby? Like Ripken, Hornsby has made a career out of always showing up to play. And, like Ripken, Williamsburg, favorite son always seems to achieve results that are stunningly consistent. It will be something to tell the grandkids that I played that night, Hornsby says of that heady experience in Baltimores Camden Yards when the whole world was watching. If he does not want to compare his impressive work ethic to that of Ripkens, he will allow that, I guess I am sort of a grinder. Cal is the quintessential grinder.

Hornsbys output, though, is no minor league effort, having played in a dizzying variety of genres on the albums of more than 40 artists and over 70 albums from Bob Dylan and Crosby, Stills and Nash to Don Henley, Branford Marsalis, Bonnie Raitt and Willie Nelson to touring as a guest member of the Grateful Dead and winning acclaim for the integrity with which he maintains his own multi-platinum, award-winning solo career. That career moved into high gear when the title track of his 1986 album debut, The Way It Is, went number one, and another track, Mandolin Rain, went to number four, winning him the 1987 Grammy as best new artist.

He quickly proved he was not a Johnny one-note, scoring hits with such songs as Valley Road, Look Out Any Window and, in a song penned with Don Henley, The End of the Innocence. Hornsby says he has been accused of being a workaholic for years. But he does not consider himself one. I tried to cut back once I became a father. I dont want to be an absentee father, he says. He says he knows he has taken on too much when he is not seeing his children enough and if it feels like something I have to do rather than want to. He is driven by his love of music.

He performed with The Other Ones on this summers Further Festival. He wrote and performed Shadowland, the end title song in the forthcoming Spike Lee motion picture Bamboozled. He contributed work to two special tribute albums: Darlin Corey, the lead track from Big Mon, which honors bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe. Backhand, the lead track from the Keith Jarrett tribute album, As Long As Youre Living Yours.

Hornsby considers Keith Jarrett a model for solo piano playing. Hes a guy who seemed to develop an independence of the hands. Im trying to develop that. It takes a lot of work, a lot of practice, he explains. Trying to write good songs and trying to become a good piano player, those are pursuits for two lifetimes. You can spend two lifetimes and not deal with all the literature of the piano. Its so vast and difficult.

But dont bet that Bruce Hornsby isnt up to the task. He always shows up ready to play. Catch a special performance at the Charlottesville Performing Arts Center on Sunday, Nov 19 at 8 p.m. For tickets call 1-800-594-Tixx and 804-244-7300.