Sarasota, Florida -- By now you've heard of and probably watched Donald Gould.
His friends call him Boone. He's Sarasota's homeless piano man.
But, he's not the only homeless man in Sarasota.
"The statue in front of city hall says no one is listening. How appropriate for the homeless," said Carl May, who has been homeless here for six months. "The hope is there to see that the homeless, not all of us, really don't want to be here."
Boone's friend, piano and guitar playing Charles Canterbury, agrees.
"It's a hard way to live," he said.
Many of these men are people passersby looked right past before Boone's viral video
His story of sitting and playing the piano is such a feel-good, warm and fuzzy one that it's been viewed millions of times online but it's not the real story according to people who work and live in the area. He's been playing that same piano for two years in front of the Clasico restaurant. They say he is a drug addict and a drunk who hasn't gotten his life together despite help from the community, but they are hoping that the popularity of this video will change that.
"That's the whole point. I hope it does," said Clasico owner Raffaele Perna. "My aspiration is to be so gratifying to see this man take it to the next level and really have another chance at what he would like to do."
One may be coming. Down the street, above the Surf Shack restaurant is a piano bar called The Terrace. They want Boone to play here. It could even lead to a piano playing job.
"You don't get the chance to help many people like that in life," said owner Ron Fuller.
That is what the downtown Sarasota community wants – to give the homeless men more than just a click on YouTube, but support from those who clicked.
