Gordie Sampson

Wikipedia:

Gordie Sampson (born July 30, 1971) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and producer from Big Pond, Nova Scotia.

He has written songs for Carrie Underwood ("Jesus, Take the Wheel", "Just A Dream", "Get Out Of This Town"), Martina McBride ("If I Had Your Name", "You're Not Leavin Me"), LeAnn Rimes ("Long Night", "Save Myself"), and George Canyon ("My Name") and produced and sound engineered for Damhnait Doyle, Natalie MacMaster, The Cottars, Bruce Guthro, and Buddy MacMaster.

He worked on Celtic Electric (CBC TV), the Rankin Family's Christmas special and the Cape Breton Summertime Revue.

Music career

Sampson attended Riverview Rural High School in the late 1980s. He joined Realworld in the early 1990s with brothers Jamie Foulds and Matthew Foulds. The group released one self-titled CD that featured local radio hits "Angels", "Throwin' It All Away" and "We All Need". He was also a member of the house band on Rita MacNeil's weekly CBC show Rita and Friends. He has produced and co-written Damhnait Doyle's Davnet, and Natalie MacMaster's In My Hands albums.

Sampson has written songs which have been recorded by Faith Hill ("Paris"), Trace Adkins ("Words Get in the Way"), Carolyn Dawn Johnson ("Crybaby"), Aaron Lines ("Seeing Things"), Great Big Sea ("Lucky Me", "Let it Go") and George Canyon ("My Name", "Happy Man"). His song "Jesus, Take the Wheel", co-written with Brett James and Hillary Lindsey, was recorded by former American Idol winner Carrie Underwood and released in 2005. Sampson has commented that the song was inspired by a story told to him by an aunt regarding the death of an acquaintance in a car accident in Nova Scotia.

Since "Jesus, Take the Wheel", Sampson has co-written songs with other Nashville performers including LeAnn Rimes ("Long Night", "Save Myself"), and Bon Jovi ("Any Other Day") for that band's 2007 album Lost Highway. He also spent time writing with Keith Urban. Urban has recorded his song, "You (Or Somebody Like You)" on his European release of the album, "Days Go By."

Sampson has released three CDs as a solo artist. His debut solo album, Stones (1998), was nominated for a Juno Award. He also received an East Coast Music Award for the single "Sorry", and is a former John Lennon Songwriting Contest finalist. His second CD, Sunburn (2004), was largely written in partnership with Troy Verges and Blair Daly. Sampson produced the CD and played the majority of the instruments on Sunburn including guitars, bass, drums and piano. The album was recorded at Lakewind Sound Studios in Point Aconi, Nova Scotia, which he co-owns with Fred Lavery, as well as in studios in Toronto and Nashville. For The Few And Far Between was released in 2008, and was nominated for a 2009 Juno Award and was the recipient of two East Coast Music Awards.

Personal life

Gordie Sampson is the son of Frank and Flo (Ley) Sampson. His sister, Amy Sampson, is a former member of the Cape Breton band Ashego.

Sampson now resides primarily in Nashville but returns to Cape Breton regularly. Sampson married Helen Musial, and the couple have a daughter.

Singles written by Sampson

These are singles that Sampson wrote for other artists.