independent artist

Hired Gun is coming!

August 17, 2025

Selkirk Range presents a classic country-inspired collection of ten original tracks. This is the first of two album-length releases from the Sunophonic Sessions.  Drop in to the listening party on August 21 at 7pm (Mountain), chat with the artist, and get a behind-the-scenes look at how the songs came together.

Hired Gun pairs vivid storytelling with melodies that are easy to carry and hard to forget, tracing open highways, small-town lives, and the hard-earned wisdom that comes with time. From upbeat road songs to quiet reflections, the album leans into the traditions of country and folk while adding a modern edge.

Leading the way is the featured single, What You Do — a joyful, heartfelt tribute to all the wild, tender, and ordinary things we do in the name of love. From singing karaoke into the night to standing in the pouring rain or racing home before sunrise, each verse captures love’s everyday devotion. Set to warm, melodic country-folk, the song reminds us that true love lives in the effort—in the silly, sincere, and soulful gestures we make again and again.

🎧 Listen to “What You Do” on Bandcamp, Spotify or Apple Music — and if it resonates, give it some love by liking it, adding it to your playlist, and sharing it with someone who’ll feel it too.

Introducing the Sunophonic Sessions

August 10, 2025

I’m excited (and, truthfully, a little nervous) to share a new chapter in the Selkirk Range project: The Sunophonic Sessions.

This collection of songs is built around something I hold sacred—words. Every lyric in this forthcoming collection of songs is my own, written by hand over many months and years. That part of the music—the storytelling, the voice behind the voice—is something I feel strongly about preserving. These are my stories, my images, my turns of phrase.

What’s new is how they’ve been brought to life in musical form.

The arrangements and performances you’ll hear weren’t created in a traditional studio. They were rendered using Suno.ai, a generative music platform that transforms lyrical and stylistic prompts into fully realized musical performances. At first, I was unsure—skeptical, even. I wondered whether it could really feel anything like music made with people in a room.

But what surprised me was just how responsive it is. Suno can infer mood, phrasing, and even expression in ways I didn’t expect. The platform—still early in its evolution—has a remarkable knack for giving voice and shape to a song. Quite frankly, it’s been a thrill to hear these words set to music like this.

Over the past decade, I’d written some two dozen songs that have been sitting in a collection of notebooks and pre-production demo recordings. As I began shaping them with Suno, they seemed to naturally split into two distinct sounds: one leaning into country traditions, the other into more adult-oriented folk-pop. The result is the Sunophonic Sessions, which will be released across a single and two albums:

  • The Ballad of the Titan is available on Bandcamp now and will be released on the other streaming platforms soon. It’s a slightly quirky take on the ill-fated OceanGate submersible, playing on the connection between the words Titan, Titanic, and Atlantic. You can read more about it in my earlier post.
  • Hired Gun, arriving on August 22 has something of a classic country feel, pairing plainspoken storytelling with easygoing melodies. I brought in Colin Noel from Electric Treehouse studio to add final polish to the mixes and mastering of this collection.
  • Duty. Courage. Truth. will follow later this year, exploring an adult contemporary sound with folk-rock at its core. Textured arrangements and reflective themes move across a range of moods, from intimate to anthemic. You can hear a pre-release version now on Bandcamp — and while you’re there, follow Selkirk Range to get updates and be the first to know when the album drops.

Above all, the greatest reward for a songwriter is finding an audience who feels the words and emotions you’ve poured into a song. In that sense, how the music was produced matters far less than whether it connects. Hearing these songs come back polished and expressive has been like hearing them for the first time — a mind-blowing experience for a songwriter working with limited resources. The tools may have changed, yet the intent remains the same: to create songs that are meaningful, and to offer them with the hope they’ll find a home in someone’s heart.

Thanks for listening.

– Gordon (Selkirk Range)

Look out for the first releases from Hired Gun and Duty Courage Truth coming soon.

The Ballad of the Titan

July 9, 2025 — 1 Comment

This song started with a simple wordplay: Atlantic, Titanic, Titan. That connection stuck with me, and I wrote the chorus months ago, long before the verses. I was drawn to the interplay of those names, their inherent rhythm, and the tragic resonance between them:

The Atlantic took Titanic-
Which lured the Titan down-
To the bottom of the sea
To the bottom of the sea

As part of my ongoing Sunophonic sessions—an artistic exploration of generative AI in songwriting—I sung the melody into Suno then pasted my lyrics, and wrote a simple prompt: “sea shanty, ballad.” It generated several versions, one of which uncannily matched my vision for the song. This is what makes working with these tools so captivating.

The result is a somber ballad in the tradition of maritime storytelling, akin to Gordon Lightfoot’s “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”—a cautionary tale for a modern tragedy.

Sneak preview from the forthcoming album

December 21, 2022

The new album is coming soon. I’ve been working with Colin Noel at Electric Treehouse in Edmonton on a collection of 10 tracks that will be available on the streaming services in the new year.

In the meantime, here’s a sneak preview of a newly recorded version of “Wear Anything!”

This song was written several years ago for a songwriting workshop and has since become a favourite when I perform live. It’s all about different kinds of hats, which of course, are all about personality.

Coming up with a rhyming list of hats and making it work musically is the kind of creative challenge that I love taking on! For the longest time, I didn’t have a third verse for this song … but thank goodness for the Internet!

This version is now a duet featuring the incredible vocal talents of Taene Nomaowen, who joined me on a couple other tracks on the album.

I also added a new arrangement to it, while opening with a baritone ukulele made by Twisted Wood Guitars based in St. Albert near Edmonton (a very thoughtful gift from my wife).

What kind of hat are you gonna wear?

Congrats to The Orchard on its growing collection of awards

December 20, 2022

In a previous post, I mentioned that my song “Broken Horse” made it into the motion picture soundtrack for The Orchard.

Now, I’m delighted to share that the film has a growing collection of honours and is getting noticed! Congrats to Mark and Kerry, as well as the cast and crew.

Joining the soundtrack to The Orchard

October 23, 2022

I am delighted to have two songs included on the soundtrack to the motion picture The Orchard. Directed by Kerry McArthur and Mark Wolfe, the film is a psychological thriller, filmed in Creston BC. Kerry and Mark initially approached me asking if they could include Longest Night of the Year in the film (which also serves as the opening music in the trailer).

They later heard an early release of Broken Horse, which is used in the closing scene. I remixed Broken Horse for the film and have also decided to include it on my forthcoming album.

The Orchard had its debut on October 14 at the historic Tivoli theatre in Creston, BC. Congratulations to Kerry and Mark. I wish them much success with it. Click on the image to view the trailer!

New single for December

December 1, 2016

The holidays can be a difficult time for those away from home.  Here’s a new single from the album that conveys the loneliness of Christmas amidst  the stark beauty of a northern Canadian winter.  Dedicated to all those who will be away from their families this year.

Album artwork

October 24, 2016

 

Here’s a peek at the artwork for the forthcoming album.  The painting is titled “Rasht” by Ottawa-based artist Taymaz Valley.  He has  very kindly given me permission to use this piece for the record, and I would like to thank Renee La Roi for her assistance in pulling all the design elements together for the CD packaging and online graphics.

I was drawn to the organic feel of the painting and brilliant use of colour.  The river, tree, and house all speak to elements and themes within the songs on the album.  That combination was simply irresistible to me.  I hope you like it as much as I do!

Stay tuned for a special announcement later this week about the release date for the album and a special pre-release offer for fans of Selkirk Range.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/39747297@N05/5230479916/in/photolist-8Yczsd-cbcCk3-7jNmHv-dipm3P-5FefTX-sKjX3-5Fixk1-bBUjs2-bCwEoZ-4qLmk2-ccHti1-bUswQr-2Nati-eALvw3-5bjaoE-dULRxt-boZz85-daMjCh-5FivxU-nfWQif-bEU9xB-evy1D8-78WDg-3f6kZz-bQ7zsp-5FefXP-ddus1V-dwHLRn-5FiwF3-3Ao8mS-9NCMZT-5EYCfm-cpXBxm-e48NRC-8h9176-bBUupB-jvie5t-jjWWL7-2BS8QV-2pvf6Z-4ZHLs3-5WnYcr-422k5w-63dWbv-fbyEfd-oJsYJa-bxN9YA-fSNt1b-dURTpS-3AEivQ

Preproduction session 2

November 4, 2015 — Leave a comment

Everett and I are continuing to run songs and explore ideas for the upcoming record.  Here we are in his home studio working on parts for “You, Me, and the Almighty.”  At this point, most of our effort is focussed largely on playing the songs together, listening to them in a raw form, and then talking about structure and arrangements.

For this song, we’ll likely keep things relatively simple with guitars and possibly a slide steel.  I’m keen to try out some unusual sonic elements to give the song a darker quality, and Bry Webb’s album Freewill is something we’re listening to for ideas.

Photograph by Renee LaRoi Design.

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Let’s make a record

September 29, 2015 — Leave a comment

I’m excited to be starting work on my first record with Edmonton-based musician and producer Everett LaRoi.  We will be setting up the production schedule soon and should have a record ready to release sometime next year.

I’m going to take my time and enjoy the process, so we haven’t set ourselves any hard deadlines.  Right now we’re planning on recording a 6-song EP.  We’ve got a shortlist of songs and will get started on pre-production in October with Spicy Tomato Music.

Everett is a really interesting guy with lots of song writing and performance experience stretching back to the mid-1980s with his former band Idyl Tea.  His recent production credits include work with ManRayGun, Goldtop, and Alice Kos.  It’s a real honour to have him be a part of the Selkirk Range project.