Tremendous Trent stood on a corner singing along with his guitar, busking, his guitar case out for those walking up the avenue to give him money. Even though Tremendous Trent played acoustic Jimmy Buffett, he was in a bad mood.
The night before, Tremendous Trent performed a massive gig that was supposed to pay $800. However, the host, Kyle, paid him in shoes that Kyle had designed. They looked like Kyle just threw paint on them. They weren’t going to pay the rent.
When Tremendous Trent confronted the host, Kyle told him that the shoes would prove far more valuable than money. So valuable, Tremendous Trent thought, that I have to play on a street corner today.
Tremendous Trent was jostled back to reality from his seething—and extra chorus of Margaritaville—when a man dropped a dollar into the case and said, “Nice shoes, man.”
Trent ended the song, “Thanks. This guy couldn’t pay me for a gig I did, so he paid me with these shoes.”
“These shoes?” the guy asked. “Kyle’s?
“Yeah, the guy’s name was Kyle.”
“No, the shoes are called Kyle’s. They’re a big deal.”
“Thanks,” Tremendous Trent said, and then he started singing, “Gray skies are gonna clear, put on a happy face.”
A group of teens walked by, and one of the girls said, “You must be really good if you can afford Kyle’s.”
Tremendous Trent smiled, and the teenagers filmed him for a minute.
Another guy came by. “Hey, I love the tunes and the shoes.”
The guy took a picture and kept walking.
Tremendous Trent kept playing. He would offer $20 for the shoes to the next person who said something, just to get rid of them.
However, it wasn’t just one person that arrived. Suddenly, people flooded in from everywhere to see Tremendous Trent and his Kyle’s shoes. The guitar case overflowed with money as he played song after song. The crowd spilled into the street to see Tremendous Trent.
As the last song concluded, he did a leg kick, displaying a shoe, and the crowd went wild.