It’s fair to say that Adam Hambrick grew up straddling the Mississippi River: one foot in northern Mississippi where his dad pastored a small Baptist church and he spent many of his early years; the other in Central Arkansas where his extended family had been for generations, the first place he called home. Adam’s musical roots were grounded deep in the hymns of Sunday church services with his family. As he grew, those roots wound their way through the pop/rock, alternative and country music of the 90’s and 2000’s with artists like Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Foo Fighters, John Mayer among others. After graduating from the University of Central Arkansas, the singer-songwriter made an appearance on Good Morning Arkansas where country star and fellow Arkansas-native Justin Moore happened to be watching. Impressed by Adam’s unique voice and distinctive songs, Justin connected Adam with his friends on Music Row. Since making the move to Tennessee in 2013, Adam has written two #1 country radio hits (Dan + Shay’s “How Not To”, Justin Moore’s “Somebody Else Will), had his own single “Rockin’ All Night” land in the Billboard Hot Country top 40, performed on ABC’s The Bachelorette, taken the stage at The Grand Ole Opry and has written songs recorded by Nashville’s biggest stars. 

A brilliant writer, an innovative producer, a dynamic on-stage presence, and a mentor to emerging writers, Gordie’s musical genius and generosity is applauded by audiences and industry players alike. 

Raised in the community of Big Pond (pop. 47), near the rugged, edge-of-the-world coastlines of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Sampson’s songwriting has taken him across the globe. But besides the island he hails from, there might be no place in his story more important than Nashville, Tennessee, where he lives now with his family. He moved to Music City in 2005, and in less than a year Carrie Underwood had recorded his own “Jesus, Take The Wheel,” which wound up at number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for six weeks in a row and earned Gordie a Grammy for Best Country Song of the Year. Since then, Sampson’s songs have been cut by a long list of established artists that includes Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan, Rascal Flatts, Dan + Shay, Hunter Hayes and Caitlyn Smith and by young up-and-comers like Carly Pearce, Caylee Hammack and Tenille Townes. 

It was a winding road to get here. He tore up the stage in high school and afterwards with his early bands, did time playing and producing for fiddlin’ phenom Ashley MacIsaac, 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. Sampson’s straight-to-the-heart tunes benefit from the weight of his expressive voice on his own records, - his 1999 album Stones garnered a Juno Award nomination for Best Roots & Traditional Album and he has won numerous East Coast Music Awards.   Although he doesn’t often take on outside projects, he has appeared as a producer for records by The East Pointers and Port Cities. 

Gordie heads back home to Canada every summer to spend time with family and friends in his beloved Cape Breton and to perform in the Maritimes, where enthusiastic audiences welcome him, year after year.  From 2010-2019 he ran The Gordie Sampson Songcamp, a retreat that gives young songwriters the opportunity to develop their skills and build relationships with their peers, and promotes learning in pursuit of artistic excellence. Numerous Songcampers, including Mo Kenney, the members of roots/pop group Port Cities, Dave Sampson and Kyle Mischiek (Sunsetto)  have gone on to build their own successful musical careers.