Victoria Banks
Victoria Wenonah Banks (born February 8, 1973) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Her self-produced debut CD When You Can Fly was released on the On Ramp/EMI Canada label in April 2009. The CD earned Banks a 2010 Canadian Indie Award nomination and six nominations at the 2009 Canadian Country Music Awards (CCMAs) including Album of the Year, Producer of the Year, Single of the Year ("The Wheel"), Songwriter of the Year ("The Wheel"), Female Artist of the Year and Rising Star, making Banks the most nominated female artist of 2009. The album's first single "The Wheel," reached the Top 20 on the Radio & Records Country Singles chart[1] earning her a 2010 Canadian Radio Music Award nomination. Music videos for "The Wheel" and "When You Can Fly" received airplay on CMT Canada.
Victoria Banks | |
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 Victoria Banks at the 2010 CCMA Awards | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Victoria Wenonah Banks |
| Born | February 8, 1973 |
| Origin | Muskoka, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | Country |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
| Instruments | singing, acoustic guitar, piano |
| Years active | 1998-present |
| Labels | On Ramp |
| Website | victoriabanks |
Banks was named both Female Artist of the Year and Songwriter(s)Of The Year at the 2010 CCMA Awards, and was nominated in the Female Artist of the Year category again in 2011.
Music career
Banks and Canadian country artist Deric Ruttan both went to high school in Bracebridge, Ontario where they performed in a band together. She went on to complete a degree in Zoology/Anthropology at the University of Toronto before moving to Nashville, Tennessee in 1998,[2] where she signed her first publishing deal. From 1998-2002 she was a staff songwriter for Fame Music (aka House of Fame), from 2002-2007 she was a writer for Full Circle Music (Circle C Songs), from 2008-2010 she wrote for Nashville's Sony/ATV Publishing, from 2011-2013 for Chrysalis Music (subsequently BMG Chrysalis), and from 2013-2019 for Nashville's RareSpark Media Group.
As a staff songwriter in the country music market, Banks has had songs featured in movies and TV and recorded by a variety of country artists including Jessica Simpson, Sara Evans, Carly Pearce, Cassadee Pope, Mickey Guyton, One More Girl, Johnny Reid, and Doc Walker.[2] She has won International Unisong and USA Songwriting Competitions in 2006 and 2007, played acoustic guitar for Pam Tillis, Crystal Shawanda and Rachel Proctor, shared the performing stage with Julie Roberts, Jamie O'Neal, Alabama and Billy Currington, and has toured as an opener for Reba McEntire, Wynonna Judd, Randy Travis, and Lonestar. She co-wrote the top Canadian country singles of 2009: Johnny Reid's "Dance With Me" and One More Girl's "When it Ain't Raining". She is best known for her Jessica Simpson hit "Come on Over" (which was the highest debuting first single for a new country artist in the Billboard chart history and earned a 2009 ASCAP Country Music Award) and her solo-written Sara Evans hit "Saints & Angels", which earned her a 2003 ASCAP Country Music Award[3] and a SOCAN International Achievement Award.
In May 2010, after completing a tour in Canada, Banks penned the song City Of Dreams whilst traveling back home to the devastating and historic Nashville flood. Her song came to life in a video, when two weeks later, over 40 Nashville artists and musicians, from legendary voices to new faces, joined forces with a production/engineering team and film crew to record it as a flood relief song. This single was released as a digitally download. All participants and facilities donated their services and all proceeds from the song and music video City Of Dream-Artists for Tennessee Flood Relief will benefit the American Red Cross.[4] The Nashville Ballet subsequently choreographed "City of Dreams" along with several of Victoria's songs and performed them alongside her as part of their 2016 Attitude program at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.
Victoria has had songwriting success in Australia in 2019 with multi-week #1 "Flamethrower" recorded by Christie Lamb, and again in 2019 with two #1 singles released back-to-back by Amber Lawrence ("Heart" and "Hell to Hallelujah").
In February 2020, Capitol Records Nashville artist Mickey Guyton debuted the single "What Are You Gonna Tell Her" (co-written by Guyton and Banks with Emma-Lee and producer Karen Kosowski) to a standing ovation of country radio programmers during the Universal Music Group Country Radio Seminar event at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium.
Banks presented "That's a Country Song" to the country duo Florida Georgia Line on NBC's Songland on May 18, 2020 to an enthusiastic reception from panelist songwriter Shane McAnally, who called her "the real deal".
Victoria's "Uncovered" album, for which she wrote, engineered, produced, and played all instruments on every track (except for a guest appearance by fiddle player Larry Franklin), was released in May 2020. It includes 9 songs, 8 of which have previously been recorded by other artists.
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| You Don't Know Me |
|
| When You Can Fly |
|
| Never Be the Same |
|
| Indigo |
|
| Uncovered |
|
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak positions |
Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN Country [5] | |||||||
| 2009 | "The Wheel" | 16 | When You Can Fly | ||||
| "When You Can Fly" | 28 | ||||||
| "Kiss Me" | 31 | ||||||
| 2010 | "This Old Halo" | — | |||||
| "Don't Leave the Leavin'" (with Jason Blaine) |
— | ||||||
| 2011 | "Come On" | 21 | Never Be the Same | ||||
| "I'm Gone" | 50 | ||||||
| "Never Be the Same" | — | ||||||
| 2012 | "Jackson" | — | |||||
| "Barefoot Girl" | — | ||||||
| 2014 | "Ruined" | — | Indigo | ||||
| 2016 | "Hello Heart" | — | |||||
| 2020 | "Want" | — | Uncovered | "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||
Guest singles
| Year | Single | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | "City of Dreams" | Artists for Tennessee Flood Relief |
Music videos
| Year | Video | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | "The Wheel" | |
| "When You Can Fly" | Warren P. Sonoda | |
| 2010 | "City of Dreams" | Julian Chojnacki |
| 2011 | "I'm Gone" | Troy Niemans |
| 2016 | "Hello Heart" |
Singles written by Banks
| Year | Title | Artist(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | "Arizona Rain" | 3 of Hearts |
| 2001 | "Saints & Angels" | Sara Evans |
| 2008 | "Come On Over" | Jessica Simpson |
| "Remember That" | ||
| 2009 | "Tomboy" | Krista Marie |
| "It's a Girl Thing" | Jesse Lee | |
| "Dance With Me" | Johnny Reid | |
| "When It Ain't Raining" | One More Girl | |
| 2010 | "Mine All Mine" | The Wilsons |
| "Searchin' for You" | Hey Romeo | |
| "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" | Doc Walker | |
| 2012 | "Wrecking Ball" | Terri Clark |
| 2015 | "Faint of Heart" | Sister C |
| 2016 | "Flamethrower" | Christie Lamb |
| 2017 | "Drinking with Dolly" | Stephanie Quayle |
| "Winnebago" | Stephanie Quayle | |
| 2019 | "Can't Help Myself" | Dan Davidson |
| "Heart" | Amber Lawrence | |
| "Hell to Hallelujah" | Amber Lawrence | |
| "Sister" | Mickey Guyton | |
| "Carry You With Me" | Christie Lamb | |
| 2020 | "What Are You Gonna Tell Her" | Mickey Guyton |
Awards and nominations
In 2003, Banks was the recipient of an International Achievement Award for the song "Saints and Angels" at the SOCAN Awards in Toronto.[6] In 2009 Victoria was the most nominated female artist in Canadian Country music at the Canadian Country Music Association awards.[7] She was also nominated for a 2009 Canadian Radio Music Award for Country Song of the Year for her breakout single The Wheel and nominated for a 2009 Indie Award for Independent Country Artist of the Year. On September 11, 2010 in Edmonton, Alberta at the Canadian Country Music Association Gala Dinner it was announced that Banks was one the recipients of the Songwriter(s) Of The Year for the song Dance With Me (written by Victoria Banks/Johnny Reid/Tia Sillers; recorded by Johnny Reid). The following day Sunday September 12, 2010 at Edmonton's Rexall Place, she was presented with the Female Artist of the Year award, broadcast on CBC Television and CMT Canada.
| Year | Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Canadian Country Music Association Awards | Female Artist of the Year | Nominated |
| Single of the Year for "The Wheel" | Nominated | ||
| Album of the Year for "When You Can Fly" | Nominated | ||
| Rising Star of the Year | Nominated | ||
| Songwriter of the Year for "The Wheel" (written by Victoria Banks / Tia Sillers; recorded by Victoria Banks) |
Nominated | ||
| Canadian Country Music Association Industry Awards | Record Producer(s) of the Year Victoria Banks, Producer - When You Can Fly (Victoria Banks) |
Nominated | |
| Website of the Year victoriabanks.net (Victoria Banks) - Creative Juices, Webmaster |
Nominated | ||
| 2010 | Canadian Country Music Association Awards | Female Artist of the Year | Won |
| Songwriter(s) Of The Year for the song "Dance With Me" (written by Victoria Banks/Johnny Reid/Tia Sillers; recorded by Johnny Reid) |
Won | ||
| 2011 | Canadian Country Music Association Awards | Female Artist of the Year | Nominated |
| 2012 | Canadian Country Music Association Awards | Female Artist of the Year | Nominated |
References
- "2 Fresh 4 Tracks: Beverley Mahood & Victoria Banks". Cmt.ca. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
- "Canadians in Nashville", Words and Music, Fall 2012
- "ASCAP 2003 Country Music Awards". Ascap.com.
- "Victoria Banks - Canada Country". Billboard. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
- "CCMA Press Release". Archived from the original on 2013-11-12. Retrieved 2011-03-12.
External links
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