In May 2014, a phone video filmed outside a Kroger supermarket in the Dallas area showed a man with a guitar singing an original song, then a passer-by joining with improvised vocals, then a third man adding a freestyle verse. The three said they had never met before. The clip spread fast, passed millions of views within days, and landed the trio on Jimmy Kimmel Live. It remains one of the best-known examples of a street jam that grew out of nothing but timing and good listening.
What happens in the video
The recording was made by Jaime Tatos Maldonado on his phone, held sideways, as he walked toward the store. In his own description of the moment, he saw a man playing a song, started filming, and by the end other men had joined in. Reports from the time place the store in Irving, a city next to Dallas.
The guitarist was Jesse Rya, a singer-songwriter performing one of his own songs. About a minute in, Howard Mullins, an Irving resident in a Philadelphia 76ers jersey, began singing along and improvising lines over the chords. Then Ron Lashley, in a neon green work vest, stopped on his way in, joined the groove and delivered a freestyle. When it wound down, Lashley thanked the others with a line that sums up the clip: “I needed that one, man, I appreciate that.” Then he walked into the store.
Were they really strangers?
That was the first question many viewers asked, especially once a talk show became involved. Rya answered it directly in a public post quoted by Texas Monthly, saying the video was “not a Jimmy Kimmel setup” and that he did not know the other two men. No reporting since has contradicted that, and the shaky, sideways framing and ordinary parking-lot setting fit an unplanned moment.
It is worth noting that the version embedded here was uploaded to YouTube by a channel called Chris Cooper, who has said he found it on Facebook and reposted it. The person behind the camera was Maldonado, and the music belongs to Rya, Mullins and Lashley. Viral clips often lose their creators’ names as they spread, so it is good practice to credit them where possible.
From a parking lot to late-night TV
Within about a week the video had millions of views. Texas Monthly counted nearly six million on 20 May 2014, and music site Stereogum reported around ten million two days later. Soon afterwards Maldonado posted from Dallas/Fort Worth airport, tagging all three musicians on their way to Los Angeles.
On Jimmy Kimmel Live, the show restaged the jam with extra fanfare: R&B singer Trey Songz, rapper Juicy J, soul singer Aloe Blacc and a gospel choir joined in, along with Kimmel and the house band. It was a fun piece of television, but much of the charm of the original lies in how little was planned.
Why an unplanned jam can sound this good
Improvised music is less random than it looks. A few simple ingredients made this one work.
- A steady foundation. A guitarist holding an even rhythm through a song he knows well gives everyone else a predictable frame to step into.
- Listening before playing. Mullins does not start singing straight away. Reports have him joining about a minute in, adding lines that fit both the melody and the mood.
- Leaving space. Each person takes a turn rather than all three competing at once. That is the call-and-response principle found in gospel, blues, folk and hip-hop alike.
- A shared musical language. Many people grow up hearing church music, R&B and rap. Even strangers can share enough of that vocabulary to anticipate where a song is going.
Freestyle rap, which Lashley brings in, is its own skill: composing rhymes in real time to a beat. Jazz musicians, blues players and folk session regulars rely on the same habits of listening and taking turns.
Why moments like this connect with people
Part of the appeal is simple surprise. Most people walk past street performers. Watching two strangers stop, take a risk and get it right is unexpected, and a little brave. Joining a stranger’s song means accepting that you might sound awkward in public.
There is also something reassuring in the setting. A grocery store parking lot is about as ordinary as it gets, and nobody involved was famous. Clips like this remind viewers that music is not only something to buy or stream; it is something people still make together on the spot. Researchers who study group music-making often point to the sense of connection people report after singing or playing with others, and this video shows that feeling playing out in a few minutes.
If you want to join a street musician
- Ask with a look or a word first. Many buskers welcome company, but it is their space and their income.
- Listen for a full cycle of the song before adding anything, so you know where the chords and phrases turn.
- Start small. A harmony, a hum or a simple rhythm is easier to fit than a full verse.
- Hand it back. Step out when your part is done and leave the performer the last word, or a tip.
Most attempts will never go viral, and that is fine. The best part of the Kroger jam was not the view count; it was three people who had never met finding a groove together for a few minutes.
Sources: Texas Monthly (20 May 2014); Stereogum: Jimmy Kimmel reenactment; video filmed by Jaime Tatos Maldonado, reposted on YouTube by Chris Cooper; first shared here via True Activist.
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