I was so sad to hear this morning that Phil Everly had died. The Everly Brothers are one of my mom’s favourite bands, and after hearing their music regularly when I was younger I grew to love them too. Over the course of the day I’ve found myself remembering different things including:

• the way my dad would always turn the volume down at the end of Ebony Eyes so me and my brother didn’t realise what it was about
• our beloved music teacher and her assistant singing a perfect rendition of Bye Bye Love at our sixth form music showcase
• many, many family car journeys with everyone singing along together
• my dad never, ever choosing one part to sing, instead switching between Phil and Don many times throughout a song
• my mom telling us every single time she heard it that All I Have to Do is Dream is one of her favourite songs

I think The Everly Brothers’ close harmony style had a huge impact on my musical tastes, there’s nothing musical that makes my heart sing more than beautiful harmonies – if anything is going to move me chances are it’s harmonies. I think as well my own experiences of singing in groups and choirs reflect this, the happiest things I’ve done have all involved wonderful pieces with soaring harmonies.

Tonight I shall be listening to the album that I heard so many times as a child and remembering a great.