In The Round with Kelly Archer, Dylan Guthro & Gordie Sampson

Originally from Vancouver, B.C., Kelly has been a signed writer in Nashville for more than 20 years and her songs have been recorded by Jason Aldean, Reba, Brett Young, Trisha Yearwood, Eli Young Band, Bailey Zimmerman, Dustin Lynch, Corey Kent, Cody Johnson, Carrie Underwood, Justin Moore, Meghan Patrick, Chris Lane and many more. Kelly has had several songs placed in the series “Nashville” as well as success in her native land of Canada. In the past few years, Kelly has celebrated 4 #1 songs with Brett Young’s “Sleep Without You,” Justin Moore’s “Somebody Else Will”, Travis Denning’s “After A Few” and Corey Kent’s “Wild As Her”and she received the AIMP “Rising Songwriter of the Year” award for 2017.  Kelly’s current single to radio is “I’m gonna love you” by Cody Johnson ft. Carrie Underwood. Kelly has been an  NSAI Board member for 2 years and is a champion for NSAI within the community and continues to get more involved with the organization by participating in our programs and services, going to D.C. and playing shows for NSAI.

Dylan Guthro is a triple threat. A talented songwriter, Dylan signed his first publishing deal out of Nashville and has had his songs covered by artists from a variety of genres of music including Ria Mae, Neon Dreams, and Donovan Woods. As a producer, Dylan is in great demand, producing music for Banners, Noah Schnacky, Dave Sampson, and Quake.

Since releasing his award winning debut, singer-songwriter Dylan Guthro has been busy creating music in a variety of ways. In 2015, Dylan formed the pop trio Port Cities. Port Cities released their multi-award winning debut in 2017 and have since amassed over 12M streams and have played over 350 shows in 12 countries.

Dylan is constantly creating music – whether it be with his bandmates, on his own while experimenting as producer, writer, and singer, or co-writing for other acts across a spectrum of musical styles.

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.