Art comes in all ways and forms and that is one of the most wonderful things about it. The capacity of anybody to express their inner self and create something beautiful, is what keeps us getting mesmerized and amazed.
One of the most powerful of all is the piano. There’s something in its sound that makes anybody get carried away. It’s smooth, tender and full of emotions. When a master of this instrument plays we all stop, at least for a second.
This piano master might not be all dressed for a concert but his skills are impressive.
His name is Donald Gould and yes, he’s a homeless man. He lives in Sarasota, Florida. The video of Donald playing on a public piano as part of the city’s Sarasota Keys Piano Project was uploaded to Facebook and has received more than 2.3 million views and over 93,000 shares.
Donald’s amazing cover of Styx’s “Come Sail Away” have taken the internet by storm.
But for the locals in Sarasota it’s a part of the usual repertoire that he would play. Along with other songs like Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” or Bach’s “Toccata”. The 51-year-old, who’s affectionately known as “Boone” turns out to be a regular performer and runs through five songs a day for the public.
“I was thinking I could just put my hat on the piano and make a couple dollars and get tips. I didn’t expect it to jump out to this.”
The person who uploaded the video Arora Natasha, filmed this to try to get this guy a second chance, as well she was impressed that in just the course of 24 hours it got over 1,000,000 hits.
Sadly Donald’s whole history isn’t as beautiful as his piano playing.
When he was younger Gould played the clarinet for the Marine Corps and after his service, he attended to a college in Michigan to study music education but ran out of money before he could finish. He worked in other things and started a family but his life changed when his wife died in 1998.
After that, he turned into substance abuse and eventually he lost his son to social services. He later ended up in Sarasota. But now, thanks to the video, things may change for Donald. Someone who saw the video reached out to local restaurant Surf Shack, which offered to allow the 51-year-old try out for a position as a possible act for their bar.