Gone Not Forgotten is a tribute to Hayden Miles A gay New Zealand musician is touched that a song he wrote in tribute to Christchurch murder victim Hayden Miles has “meant a lot” to the teenager's family. Edward Ewbank, who is also a talented equestrian, wrote Gone Not Forgotten after a friend told him about the fate of Miles, a gay 15-year-old who was beaten to death by Gavin Gosnell then dismembered. “At the time I was driving home after 15 hours of training and competing completely drained,” US-based Ewbank says. The friend suggested he write a song for Miles, and after putting his horses to bed and doing reading up on the case online, Ewbank was so moved he wrote and recorded Gone Not Forgotten in twenty minutes. Edward Ewbank “It touched me so much and had me in tears for days,” he says of Miles’ tragic death. “I cried in the car on the way to work the next day. Miles' mother Jacqui has described the song as amazing, saying “Hayden would have loved it, and we his family says thanks. It means a lot.” Ewbank says the family has dealt with the death with both courage and humility, and he hopes to meet them one day. “I would love to invite them to a concert of mine so that I can dedicate it to them in person too,” he says. “I'm in the studio next week recording it properly with a top violinist here in the states who is also openly gay.” The musician will donate any proceeds of the song to a charity, as he does with his other songs. He is currently finishing an album and preparing for the Rio Olympics in 2016.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 14th May 2013 - 2:20pm