Meet 'Bongo Man' Eric Pounds, a homeless musician bringing music to the streets of Austin

Meet Eric Pounds, or maybe you know him as “Bongo Man.” He’s a 55-year-old man experiencing homelessness who is known for playing a drum next to Pluckers Wing Bar in Austin’s West Campus area.

Born in Hutchinson, Kan., Pounds learned how to play the drums in grade school and read sheet music at age 13, he said. Pounds said when he was 12, he got a tattoo on his left arm that said "LBS," a reference to his last name. On his right arm is a tattooed cross.

"I'm a believer," he said.

He has been in and out of bands throughout his life and became better at playing instruments by jamming with people in recording studios, he said.

About 25 years ago, he started living in Austin.

Pounds brings smiles to people’s faces with his music and is known for being a friendly face in the West Campus area. He’s developed a whole network of friends with locals and other people experiencing homelessness. He feels love when he plays the drums, he said.

“I got a lot of good people out here that like my music,” he said.

The goatskin drum

Pounds fills his time by playing his drum, which is made out of goatskin. He sometimes jams with other people on the street.

He has to keep a watchful eye on his drum on the streets. A few years ago someone stole a previous drum worth $350 while he was sleeping. But one of his friends gifted him a new drum to play, and that's the one he has today. He even sleeps on it, he said.

Pounds has a picture of himself and his friend Lane, a student at UT, on his drum. The picture was a birthday present from Lane last year, he said.

“When I opened up the birthday card, there was a $100 bill and a picture, and I said, ‘I'm going to put this picture on my drum,’ ” he said. “It's going to be there forever.”

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Friends and hardship

On July 7, a Friday, Pounds wore rainbow shorts and a T-shirt that said, ‘Austin, Texas, USA.’ He played his goatskin drum on the sidewalk next to Pluckers as his friend sat next to him listening. Some sidewalk roamers strolled past him on their walk. Others stopped to listen.

Throughout the hour, the rest of his buddies trickled down the street with a plastic crate in hand to sit on and their backpacks, joining the jam scene. Pounds has developed a close group of friends he’s known for years, including some he’s known since he got to Austin.

There’s Tony Barron, a former high school Spanish teacher who can play a spectrum of instruments from the pennywhistle to the guitar.

There’s Pops, a soft-spoken older man who wears a University of Texas ballcap with his white hair poking out. Barron often jokes that Pops is 107 years old.

And there’s Ryan, a man whom Pounds calls his brother. Ryan said he’s leaving for San Francisco soon to beat the heat. So in the meantime, he puts ice cubes in his hat to cool down. Pounds said he and Ryan are partying until the big departure.

Together, the four men tell jokes, smoke Marlboros, drink beer and play music.

Ryan said they like sitting outside of Pluckers because it's right next to a dining patio with a bunch of TVs broadcasting sports. Several trees also shade the sidewalk, he said.

Pounds said he’s seen rough things on the streets. A couple of weeks ago, Ryan was jumped and stabbed in the neck, Pounds said.

He said he immediately used his shirt to stanch Ryan’s bleeding until the ambulance came. Ryan was left with a big scar down his neck.

“It was terrible. It shook me up. I’m still shaken up,” Pounds said.

“But he’s alive!” Pounds yelled with a big smile and wide eyes.

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A rock ’n’ roll dream

Amid living through hardships and struggles on the street, Pounds sits on his crate every day to play his drum with fervent passion. In five years, he said, he sees himself in a rock ’n’ roll band.

“I can’t sing, but I can beat the living hell out of those,” Pounds said, pointing to his drum.

And that's what he does. He does it just about every day with love in his heart, his best friends gathered next to him and hope for the future.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Meet Austin's 'Bongo Man': Homeless musician who drums on the streets