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April 6, 2006
Nashville hires a new hit man
in Gordie Sampson
The Cape Breton songwriter is churning out singles for
the likes of Faith Hill
Shanda Deziel, Macleans Magazine
 Everyone's
got an embarrassing story; Gordie Sampson's just happened to
take place on The Rita MacNeil Show. At 24, the
singer/songwriter/guitarist had his first real money-making
gig, as a member of MacNeil's TV house band.
"One show,
[country singer] Carroll Baker and Rita were doing a duet of
Hey Good Lookin'," says Sampson. "It was schlocky, schlocky
-- and the producer asked me if I'd run up with a wireless
guitar and split them up and do a solo. I was like, 'I
can't, if the guys see this I'm f---ed.' But I couldn't get
out of it. I ran out and, my God, Carroll Baker was pinching
my ass as I'm doing the solo. At least it was behind the
camera, so you couldn't see it."
These
days, Sampson, now 34, still pals around with country
singers. The Cape Bretoner has a modest pop career in
Canada, highlighted by 2004's radio-friendly album, Sunburn.
But in September he moved to Nashville with his wife and
baby daughter, after a few of his songs were recorded by the
likes of Keith Urban (The Hard Way), Faith Hill (Paris) and
George Canyon. Soon after, Jesus, Take the Wheel, a song he
co-wrote for the debut album of American Idol winner Carrie
Underwood, topped the Billboard Country Singles Chart for
six weeks. "I got the idea for the song from something my
aunt told me when I was a kid," explains Sampson. "One time,
she started spinning around in the car and she put her hands
in the air and asked God to drive."
Despite
never having had an interest in new country music, Sampson,
who grew up on Stevie Ray Vaughan and Pink Floyd, seems
happily ensconced in Music City. "My dynamic in Nashville is
so far removed from the formula of the writer in the cubicle
in some office building," he says. "I don't really have the
energy to write 100 songs and wait for one to be a hit.
Instead, we get six-packs of beer and sit on my porch and
write." Sampson's fresh approach carries over into the
content of the songs. He eschews the simple stories and
clichés of bravado and heartbreak typically associated with
the genre. "I'm not going to tell you a story," he says.
"I'm just going to deal you a couple of cards and you can
look at your own hand and make up your own." That's what
happened with Paris -- a song about him and his co-writers
getting mugged in France. "I never pitched it to anybody,
thinking, 'Who the hell in country music is going to record
a song about getting punched in the head in Paris?' That's
just weird. But Faith Hill interpreted it as a love song."
This
ambiguous writing style is winning him some well-placed
fans. Australian country star Urban has recorded two of
Sampson's songs, and took him along on a Canadian tour last
year as the opening act. Last month, the two spent three
days together writing songs for a new album at Urban's
Nashville home -- which has its perks. "Nicole Kidman lives
with him now," says Sampson. "I pulled up to the gate, and
she said, 'Gordie, I hope you like corned beef.' And I was
like, 'I f---ing love corned beef.' " According to Sampson,
Kidman likes Nashville, thanks to its "gurm"-free policy. "Gurming
is when you walk into a room and see Steve Earle sitting by
himself having a beer and relaxing and you go right over and
say, 'Hey Steve, I love you' -- instead of just leaving him
alone. It's just protocol in town, when you see Nicole
Kidman and Keith Urban, nobody bothers them. She goes
jogging in the park. She could never do that in New York or
L.A."
Sampson's
learning to love Nashville too, although he's anxious to get
back to Cape Breton for the summer. The writing cycle is
broken up like school semesters -- he works from September
to May and takes the summer off while the artists are out
touring. This way he can make time for his own recording
career. Last month he played a rare solo show during the
"school year," at the South by Southwest music festival in
Austin, Texas. He was hoping to capitalize a bit on all the
attention he's been getting from Underwood's hit song. The
gig went well, but was also a reminder of the insanity of
life on the road. After his showcase and a full night of
partying, Sampson returned to his hotel room and found two
strangers getting amorous in his bed. Not wanting to disturb
them and a little too drunk to care, he grabbed a sheet and
crashed on a secluded patch of grass outside of the hotel,
close to the highway, in the pouring rain. The next morning,
on very little sleep, he headed back to his day job in
Nashville, with a funny story to tell -- one that just might
end up on Faith Hill's next album.
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Above photo:
Margaree (by Victor Maurice Faubert)
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