Ottawa rocker who died of opioid overdose honoured with scholarship
It's Saturday night at House of Targ and members of Ottawa punk band Twisted Limbs are preparing to take the stage.
They're playing their first live show since the death of their bandmate, Riley Taylor.
Taylor died last year of an opioid overdose. He was 26.
The concert is to honour him and raise funds for a scholarship in his name. The $1,000 grant will be awarded annually to an undergraduate student studying guitar or percussion at Carleton University's music program.
"We just wanna keep his legacy going," said Donavon O'Leary, Taylor's cousin and former bandmate.
Ottawa musician Riley Taylor was 26 when he died in 2022 of an opioid overdose. A $1,000 grant will now be awarded in his memory each year to an undergraduate student studying guitar or percussion at Carleton University. (Submitted by Christine Taylor)
Taylor was one of many whose life was claimed by opioids.
According to Ottawa Public Health data, 49 people died in Ottawa of overdoses in the first three months of this year. More recent figures show May and July had the most emergency room visits for opioid overdoses so far this year, with at least 135 in each of those months.
Taylor's longtime friend Adrien Harpelle hopes the concert will help reduce the stigma around substance use.
"Riley's story is unfortunately not unique and harm reduction is really, really important," he said. "We need it now more than ever."
Remembering Taylor
Music was always a part of Taylor's life.
Growing up, he went to music camps every summer. As he got older, "his summer camp became going to Bluesfest," recalled his mother, Christine Taylor.
"He came from a musical family. His dad's a drummer and we have a drum shop [...] so he was always surrounded by music," she told CBC Radio's All in a Day, adding he played everything from guitar to banjo to piano to African hand drumming.
Christine Taylor says the scholarship is a way to honour her son's love of music and his penchant for helping others. (Anchal Sharma/CBC)
For her, the scholarship is a way to keep her son's memory alive while helping struggling students.
She worked at the university library for 20 years and her son spent some time working at the university's cafeteria, but he never actually attended the school.
Even so, offering a music scholarship to students helps her feel connected to him.
"If Riley's life had been a little bit different, he probably would have been doing the music program at Carleton," she said.
T-shirts featuring a guitar pick with Taylor's face on it were sold at a silent auction at the venue along with items donated by local businesses to help support the scholarship. (Anchal Sharma/CBC)
It's about education
She now volunteers at a support program for families affected by substance use at The Royal, Ottawa's mental health centre.
It's where she supported Taylor over the years as he tried to overcome his addiction.
As a parent, it wasn't easy.
"Every day I woke up and I thought, 'Oh my God, is this the day that we're going to get that phone call?'"
She said more education is needed around addiction and recovery to help patients have more successful outcomes.
Part of that comes from having difficult conversations with your loved one, she said.
"You just have to, I don't know, be open to your kids and be there for them."
O'Leary and Harpelle want to see change from government.
"We have a huge epidemic on our hands [...] and it's a crime that we're not even dealing with this at the legislation level," Harpelle said.
Money raised at Saturday's concert will go toward the scholarship fund. Carleton will match the donations on Giving Tuesday.
Carleton student Quinn Beneteau, the recipient of the first Riley Taylor Memorial Award, opened the show on Saturday night. (Anchal Sharma/CBC)
