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Gord Bamford reflects on terrific year
12/24/08
BY MARK WEBER
Red Deer Express
It’s been one stellar year for local country singer Gord Bamford.
His latest disc, Honkytonks and Heartaches, continues to garner rave reviews.
The fourth single, Little Guy, is about to hit radio with the video already on rotation on CMT.
The three previous singles from the disc all shot to number one in Canada as well. For Bamford, it’s clearly been a year to remember, and 2009 looks even brighter.
“It’s been an incredible year for me. My career has gone from one to ten,” he says. To celebrate, he’s the headliner at a New Year’s Eve bash at the Lacombe Memorial Centre with special guests Tera Lee and Amber Williams.
Bamford has come a long way from singing around Lacombe to opening shows for folks like Tim McGraw, Kenny Rogers, Carolyn Dawn Johnson and Terri Clark.
Born in Australia, Bamford moved to Canada with his mother at five years of age. He spent the rest of his formative years near Lacombe.
During that time, his mom was a constant encouragement in his life to pursue music.
But family aside, it wasn’t long before the industry took notice of his exemplary skills.
In 1995, he won one of Alberta’s largest talent contests, the Nornet Radio Network’s Search for the Stars.
Bamford then teamed up with Rob Bartlett from Sundae Sound in Calgary to record his debut single Forever Starts Today which earned positive raves from Canadian radio in 1996.
By 2000, he was ready to record his first CD with Bart McKay at Sound Edge Productions in Saskatoon.
Bamford handpicked tunes from favourite writers, including Byron Hill.
He also co-wrote two of the cuts, and God’s Green Earth was released in the summer of 2000.
The next year, Bamford ventured down to Nashville to hone his songwriting with Steve Fox, Tim Taylor and Byron Hill, who would co-produce his second record.
After hearing Bamford’s version of his tune God’s Green Earth, Hill wanted to work with him. The two ended up co-writing six of the 11 tracks on Bamford’s sophomore disc Life is Good.
Honkytonks and Heartaches followed in 2007.
It’s packed with tunes rich in both traditional and modern sensibilities, from lively disc open Blue Collar Palace to the engaging Come Over Here and the title track which reflects Bamford’s knack for storytelling, as does I Said Nothing and the poignant Little Guy.
Next April, he heads to Nashville to record his next disc. A whole slew of tunes have already been written – Bamford typically has between 70 and 100 potential cuts before venturing into a new project.
A Christmas album is also in the planning stages, plus Bamford will be hitting the road for an extensive national tour later in the year as well.
He heads to France next summer as well for a gig, but mainly his focus will be on Canada.
“We have more than 100 shows booked, and bookings at festivals right across the country.”
mweber@reddeer.greatwest.ca 403-309-5459
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