Born 55 Years Ago Today in Nova Scotia, the Grammy-Winning Singer-Songwriter Who Penned Carrie Underwood’s First Hit

Fresh off her American Idol victory, Carrie Underwood released “Jesus, Take the Wheel” in October 2005 as the lead single from her debut album Some Hearts. Spending six weeks at number one, the faith-based ballad set Underwood on the path to superstardom. And she wasn’t the only person to reap the benefits of its success. Gordie Sampson—who co-wrote “Jesus Take the Wheel” with Brett James and Hillary Lindsey—has said the song “worked wonders” for his own music career.

Since then, Sampson’s songwriting credits have included Luke Bryan’s “Knockin’ Boots”; the Florida Georgia Line-Backstreet Boys collaboration “God, Your Mama and Me”; Dierks Bentley’s “Bourbon In Kentucky”; and “Noise” by Cody Johnson.

Today, we’re further exploring the life and career of Gordon Francis “Gordie” Sampson, born in Big Pond, Nova Scotia, Canada, on this day (July 30) in 1971.

How Gordie Sampson Got His Start

By his own admission, Gordie Sampson has little formal musical training to speak of. In addition to taking piano lessons from his mother as a child, he eventually taught himself to play guitar.

Despite growing up surrounded by folk singers and fiddlers on his tiny, rugged hometown island of Cape Breton, Sampson only ever had aspirations to play in a rock band. He played in school bands in both junior high and high school, usually favoring material by hard rock acts like AC/DC and Black Sabbath.

Outside of school, Sampson joined his first band, Ricochet, at age 17, embarking on a six-month tour of the Maritimes. After that, he joined brothers Jamie and Matthew Foulds in the Nova Scotia band Realworld during the early 1990s.

The rock band released just one album, Dig, before splitting up in 1994. However, three singles reached the top 10 on the Canadian charts—all of which Sampson co-wrote.

After Realworld disbanded, Sampson joined Juno Award-winning, traditional Celtic-rock fusion artist Ashley MacIsaac’s band. He also toured with The Rankin Family, and was part of Canadian folk music icon Rita MacNeil’s group on her weekly CBC show Rita and Friends.

In 1998, Sampson released his Juno-nominated debut album, Stones.

The Move to Nashville

Wanting to focus more on songwriting, Gordie Sampson initially had a tough time promoting his material from his home in Nova Scotia. So in 2005, he headed to Nashville with his wife and baby despite knowing almost nothing about country music.

That same year, he wrote “Jesus, Take the Wheel” with James and Lindsey. Sampson brought the title to the recording session, which he said was inspired by the death of an acquaintance in a Nova Scotia car crash two years earlier.

“I don’t know if the eventual song would ever have been recorded if Carrie didn’t pick it up for her album,” he said. “She just happened to come along at exactly the right time.”

Opening Doors

Thanks to the monumental success of “Jesus Take the Wheel”, Gordie Sampson has since become one of Nashville’s most sought-after songwriters.

His resume includes tracks recorded by Keith Urban, Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes, Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, and Rascal Flatts.

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Sampson has also recorded three more solo albums since his 1998 debut. In 2010, he began hosting the Gordie Sampson Songcamp as a way to encourage and develop young songwriters from across Nova Scotia. 

Featured image by Rick Diamond/Getty Images

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