I view myself as a Songwriter and Orchestrator, not much interested in performance - I get these ideas and slam together a concept - My stong suit is Acoustic Guitar but I became a Multi-Instumentalist out of self defense.
Garage Bands and Jam Sessions only
I might do open mics once in awhile at whatever coffee house or bar that I'm near at the time. The only special moments that I can recall is years ago when my LA band played a downstairs venue and we drew the crowd from the upstairs venue and once I was in a band that was choking my creativity but it turned out that the one song of mine that got played live was the one that got the best audience reaction.
Radio of all kinds, TV, Movies and Jam Mates.
Anything that's at hand, a mandolin, Mac computers, Bass, regular tape players/recorders, Roland Guitar Synth, cheap MIDI drums or a real trap kit, loops, any keyboard, all kinds of noise makers, usually whatever guitar is handy - I have had some folks freak out at how good their "piece of junk" spare guitar sounded when I play them - like people, every instrument has at least one hit in them.
Peace