Birdsong Foundation gives struggling musicians a boost

On what would be his last Christmas, David Martin sang his mother a song he had written for her.

Rock me, rock me to sleep The sound of your voice makes my heart skip a beat.

To the depths I will go with the warmth of your touch

Maggie, I love you that much ...

Today, nearly three years after David’s death, Margaret Konopacki finds comfort in his music.

“When you listen to David’s lyrics, there is so much hope. He was always looking to the stars,” said Konopacki, who founded a charity, Birdsong

Foundation, in David’s memory along with her sister, Irena, and David’s friend, Brock Shillington.

“The human condition is like that for everybody. But some people they just live it louder . . . at a higher vibration.

“David lived at a higher vibration.”

“Birdsong,” she writes on the foundation’s website, “is dedicated to helping others like David to find a way out of the darkness of life with mental illness by sharing their music and story.”

It invites songwriters and musicians in any genre who have been diagnosed as living with mental illness to submit their work. Three people will be selected by the board to receive grants that will help them record, publish and market their music. The songwriters retain the copyrights.

The foundation’s deadline for submissions is Sept. 30.

The foundation is a way for Konopacki to channel her grief, an opportunity to help others over a hurdle that David couldn’t overcome.

“A lot of people can relate to loss, but the ones who can relate to this particular loss are the ones who have lost a child. It’s a whole other world. It’s indescribable how painful it is,” she said.

“The solution is reaching out.”

Birdsong – named for her “fallen bird” – will allow someone else to express themselves and their feeling through music, she said.

John David Martin was born on Sept. 8, 1987. Margaret was an entertainment and music publicist. His father, John Martin, was a TV producer who in 1979 had created Thenewmusic on Toronto’s CITY-TV, the precursor to Muchmusic.

David was intelligent and energetic and a rebel, even from a young age. At school, he clashed with authority and Margaret moved him into private schools and, eventually, schooled him at home. At 14, he discovered marijuana, then rapidly moved on to cocaine. His parents’ marriage broke down and his addiction grew so severe that Margaret had to have him sent to a detox centre in Mexico since there was no option for him in Canada.

When David was 18, he and his mother moved to Ottawa, Margaret’s hometown. It was not long after that that John Martin died of cancer, which profoundly affected David.

In Ottawa, David worked and hung out with musician friends, frequently performing at open nights with his acoustic guitar. He was 25 when his mental health started to spiral downward, characterized by bouts of paranoia and psychotic episodes.

“Out of his 30 years, he had 10 that were pretty awful,” Margaret said. “But he had 20 that were just unbelievable. The excitement he had for life was remarkable. We had so much fun. He had years of real clarity. He had a great sense of humour and huge compassion for others.”