Musician Gordie Sampson returns to Cape Breton roots

Gordie Sampson’s music career has taken him around the world, but he makes a point to come home every summer to reconnect with his Cape Breton roots.

“Being home in Cape Breton, the excitement never gets old,” he said. “I love to get outdoors and be around the water. It takes almost a week to get in the zone and once I’m in the zone, it’s hard to get me out of the zone.”

Originally from Big Pond, Cape Breton, Sampson works in Nashville, writing songs for the industry’s biggest stars.

“I write about 100 songs a year and generally speaking, one in 10 of them get heard, get some activity,” he said. “(Cape Breton) is radically different in ways than Nashville and radically similar in ways. The people are very similar.”

Sampson credits his musician mother – who he notes currently has more gigs booked than him – for raising him in a music-centric upbringing.

“I’m very lucky to grow up in a household where music is a second language,” he said.

Sampson plans to reconnect with friends and family this summer. He will also perform at a songwriters’ circle with a huge lineup of performers at the Lakes at Ben Eoin Golf Club and Resort on Aug. 3.

“It’s very important for me to come back to Cape Breton every summer and remember what it was like to grow up here,” he said. “Every year I can take that with me and turn that into songs somehow.”

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