Vendor, musician, dancer, and with many stories to tell, that’s Marcos: the Cowboy. Since his youth, he had been working in sales. His stepfather was a baker, and his mother taught all her children to cook, wash, and iron from the age of 10: “She used to say that even if she wasn’t around, I would already know something.” Still a child, he was enchanted by the movie “O Menino da Porteira” (The Boy at the Gate) from 1976 and, upon seeing the singer Sergio Reis playing the bugle, he decided that was what he wanted for himself. A year later, his aunt, who had a small farm in Itabuna, received a bugle as a gift, and when Marcos visited her, he saw the instrument on the shelf and, within 30 minutes, was already playing it. His aunt’s house became a frequent stop for Marcos – the neighbor didn’t like it much because he thought the young boy was making fun of him due to the symbolism of the ox horn (calling him “horned”). At 14, he moved to Minas Gerais to live with his stepfather on a farm, became a farmhand, and started to enjoy country music: “I used to listen to a lot of music on the radio, Milionário e Zé Rico, Trio Parada Dura… They influenced me a lot.” He returned to Salvador in 1990, missing his mother, and started working in an Arabic kitchen, where he learned a lot. In 2002, he became a manager at a kiosk in the old open-air shopping mall – Aeroclube Salvador – which operated as a country-themed bar. To attract customers, Marcos played the bugle and dictated rodeo verses and country puns. The place offered live music every weekend, and one day, a band that caught his attention appeared: “I already knew all the songs they played because I used to listen to them when I lived in Minas.” The band was Paulo Raio, and Marcos has been with them ever since. “It’s been 12 years,” he recalls. Initially, he attended the shows only as a fan, going to agricultural fairs. When the band performed at Aeroclube, Marcos asked the singer if he could play the bugle when they played the song “Menino da Porteira” (The Boy at the Gate). The musician loved the idea and started inviting him more frequently. Marcos decided to quit his job, where he earned one and a half minimum wages, to earn half a salary working with the band: “I spent 3 months eating bread with banana, but I was happy.” However, Salvador still didn’t have country music bands, so they started conquering spaces in some bars and clubs. At one of these places, in the interior of Bahia, the band was invited to open for the singer Sergio Reis. Marcos took advantage of the moment to “fanboy” over the singer in his dressing room and mentioned the bugle: “I know how to play the bugle,” and was challenged by the singer. When Sergio Reis saw Marcos playing, he invited him to go on stage and play the bugle during the show. He felt fulfilled that night. From then on, the band started doing more shows, filling up some venues and nightclubs: “Before, we did a show every 3 months, and then we started doing one every week.” Besides the bugle, Marcos plays percussion with spoons and dances. But what about the skewer story? Due to the accident at the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria, several clubs in Brazil were shut down because they didn’t meet the safety standards established by the fire department. Salvador was no different. Marcos tried to keep going for a few more years, only with the income from the band, but it wasn’t enough. As he always enjoyed cooking, he thought, “People already call me Cowboy, and meat has to do with what I’m good at, so I’ll sell skewers!” He built a thematic cart similar to a bull, diving even deeper into the country world. With the cart, Marcos brings a small speaker where he plays country music, but he carries the faithful bugle, announcing his arrival at Praça da Boca do Rio with its unmistakable sound. Marcos buys the meat in his neighborhood since he lives near the square and uses only two cuts of beef – “chã de dentro” and “cupim” (both Brazilian beef cuts) – in addition to chicken, sausage, and shrimp. To season, he uses semi-ready-made spices and adds a secret he won’t reveal. He also uses a garlic and butter paste that he occasionally brushes on the skewers. Marcos has only had the cart for a year, and he already plans to grow and innovate with flavors, using minced meat, chicken wings, “sertão” meat, and “carne de sol” (sun-dried meat) with cassava: “I’m not a slave to work; I do it out of love.”