Gordie Sampson
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Gordie Sampson is a singer and Grammy winning songwriter from Big Pond, Nova Scotia.
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[edit] Personal
His parents are Frank and Flo Sampson. They still live in Gordie's family home in Cape Breton.
His sound can be described as bluesy/folky/pop. He got his start as a member of a band named 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'.
[edit] Musical Career
Sampson has emerged as an accomplished songwriter who, early in his career wrote for Ashley MacIsaac - "Sleepy Maggie," Crush - "King For A Day"). He also produced (Damhnait Doyle's Davnet, Natalie MacMaster's In My Hands).
For several years, he would travel to Nashville where he would pitch his songs to both pop and country acts. In Nashville, he had songs recorded by such artists as 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").
But it was Jesus Take the Wheel, which was co-written with Brett James and Hillary Lindsey in Nashville, that brought him industry acclaim as a songwriter. That song was recorded by Carrie Underwood and released in 2005. It sat at the top of the charts for 6 weeks, tying Faith Hill's "Breathe" as a runner-up for longest-running number-one song by a solo female artist. Sampson has commented that the song was inspired by an acquaintance (his aunt) killed in a car crash on a Nova Scotia highway.
Since the success of "Jesus Take the Wheel", Sampson has co-written songs with several well known Nashville songwriters including Keith Urban ("God Made Woman", "The Hard Way"), LeAnn Rimes ("Long Night", "Save Myself") and Bon Jovi for that band's 2007 country music album.
Sampson has released two CDs as a solo artist. His debut album, Stones (1998), was nominated for a Juno Award. He also received an East Coast Music Award for the single "Sorry" from the Stones album. His second CD, Sunburn (2004), came after a brief hiatus and was written in partnership with Troy Verges and Blair Daly. Sampson plays the majority of the instruments on Sunburn including guitars, bass, drums and piano. The album was recorded at his own studio on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia and in Toronto.
Sampson now divides his time between Nashville and his Cape Breton home, in addition to touring across Canada.
[edit] Awards & Nominations
- 2006 Grammy Awards (2) - Song of the Year (Nomination), and Best Country Song (Winner), both for "Jesus Take The Wheel"
- 2006 CMA Nomination - Song of the Year for "Jesus Take The Wheel"
- 2006 Nashville Songwriters Association International Songwriter Achievement Award " Jesus Take The Wheel"
- 2006 Canadian Country Music Award Songwriter of the Year (2nd year in a row) for "Jesus Take The Wheel" (Carrie Underwood)
- 2006 CCMA Nomination-Songwriter of the Year " Crybaby" (Carolyn Dawn Johnson)
- 2006 Academy of Country Music Award-Single of the Year - Carrie Underwood - "Jesus Take The Wheel"
- 2005 Great American Song Contest Award Winner Pop/Contemporary for "Paris"
- 2005 Great American Song Contest Award Winner Pop/Contemporary for "Sunburn"
- 2005 CCMA AWARD Single of the Year & Song of the Year - George Canyon - "My Name"
- 2005 ECMA AWARD Album of the Year Sunburn)
- Songwriter of the Year(Sunburn)
- Single of the Year (Sunburn)
- Male Artist of the Year (Sunburn)
- Pop Recording of the Year (Sunburn)
- 2005 International Songwriting Competition Winner- Performance Category (Paris)
- 2004 MIANS Awards for Album of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, Pop/ Rock Artist of the Year, SOCAN Songwriter of the Year
- 2004 ECMA Award for Songwriter of the Year
- 2003 MIANS Award for Producer of the Year
- 2002 SOCAN Award for Most Country Airplay
- 2002 ECMA Award for SOCAN Songwriter of the Year
- 2001 ECMA Award for SOCAN Songwriter of the Year
- 2000 ECMA Awards for Single of the Year, Video of the Year and Songwriter of the Year
- 2000 MIANS Awards for Male Artist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year
- 2000 Canadian Radio Music Awards Nomination for Pop Adult Best Solo Artist
- 2000 John Lennon Songwriting Contest Pop Category Finalist
- 2000 CCMA Award for Vocal/Instrumental Collaboration
- 2000 JUNO Award for Best Instrumental Album
- 1999 ECMA Award for New Artist of the Year
- 1999 MIANS Award for Producer of the Year
- 1999 JUNO Nomination for Roots/Traditional Solo Recording
[edit] Discography
- Stones (1998)
- Sunburn (2004)
[edit] Notable Hits
These are songs that Gordie wrote ( thus he owns publishing rights) for other artists to perform.
- "Jesus Take the Wheel" - Carrie Underwood
- "Star" - Shaye
- "Measure of a Man" – Jack Ingram (Universal)
- "If I Had Your Name" – Martina McBride (RCA Nashville)
- "Long Night" - LeeAnn Rimes (Curb Records)
- "Save Myself" - LeeAnn Rimes (Curb Records)
- "Crybaby" – Carolyn Dawn Johnson (Universal Canada)
- "Words Get In the Way" – Trace Adkins (Capitol Nashville)
- "Jesus Take The Wheel" - Carrie Underwood (Sony/ BMG)
- "Paris" - Faith Hill (Warner Nashville)
- "Seein' Things" - Aaron Lines (RCA Nashville)
- "Lucky Me" - Great Big Sea (Warner Canada)
- "Let It Go" - Great Big Sea (Warner Canada)
- "My Name" - George Canyon
- "The Hard Way" - Keith Urban
- "You (or Somebody Like You)" - Keith Urban
- "King For A Day" - Crush
- "How the West Was Won" - Shaye
- "Followed Her Around" - Jimmy Rankin
- "Maybe You're Right" - The Rankins
- "Get Me Through December" - Natalie MacMaster
- "Sleepy Maggie", "MacDougall's Pride" - Ashley MacIsaac
- "We All Need", "Angels", "Throwin' It All Away" - Realworld
- "Another California Song" - Damhnait Doyle
