Victoria Banks


Victoria Wenonah Banks 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 including Album of the Year, Producer of the Year, Single of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, 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 earning her a 2010 Canadian Radio Music Award nomination. Music videos for "The Wheel" and "When You Can Fly" received airplay on CMT Canada.
Banks was named both Female Artist of the Year and SongwriterOf 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, where she signed her first publishing deal. From 1998-2002 she was a staff songwriter for Fame Music, from 2002-2007 she was a writer for Full Circle Music, from 2008-2010 she wrote for Nashville's Sony/ATV Publishing, from 2011-2013 for Chrysalis Music, 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. 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" and her solo-written Sara Evans hit "Saints & Angels", which earned her a 2003 ASCAP Country Music Award 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. 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.
In February 2020, Capitol Records Nashville artist Mickey Guyton debuted the single "What Are You Gonna Tell Her" 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, was released in May 2020. It includes 9 songs, 8 of which have previously been recorded by other artists.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Guest singles

Music videos

Singles written by Banks

YearTitleArtist
2000"Arizona Rain"3 of Hearts
2001"Saints & Angels"Sara Evans
2008"Come On Over"Jessica Simpson
2008"Remember That"Jessica Simpson
2009"Tomboy"Krista Marie
2009"It's a Girl Thing"Jesse Lee
2009"Dance With Me"Johnny Reid
2009"When It Ain't Raining"One More Girl
2010"Mine All Mine"The Wilsons
2010"Searchin' for You"Hey Romeo
2010"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
2017"Winnebago"Stephanie Quayle
2019"Can't Help Myself"Dan Davidson
2019"Heart"Amber Lawrence
2019"Hell to Hallelujah"Amber Lawrence
2019"Sister"Mickey Guyton
2019"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. In 2009 Victoria was the most nominated female artist in Canadian Country music at the Canadian Country Music Association awards.
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 Of The Year for the song Dance With Me. 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.
YearAwardCategoryResult
2009Canadian Country Music Association AwardsFemale Artist of the Year
2009Canadian Country Music Association AwardsSingle of the Year for "The Wheel"
2009Canadian Country Music Association AwardsAlbum of the Year for "When You Can Fly"
2009Canadian Country Music Association AwardsRising Star of the Year
2009Canadian Country Music Association AwardsSongwriter of the Year for "The Wheel"
2009Canadian Country Music Association Industry AwardsRecord Producer of the Year
Victoria Banks, Producer - When You Can Fly
2009Canadian Country Music Association Industry AwardsWebsite of the Year
victoriabanks.net - Creative Juices, Webmaster
2010Canadian Country Music Association AwardsFemale Artist of the Year
2010Canadian Country Music Association AwardsSongwriter Of The Year for the song "Dance With Me"
2011Canadian Country Music Association AwardsFemale Artist of the Year
2012Canadian Country Music Association AwardsFemale Artist of the Year