Hello Canada!! My Cinderella Moment at the CCMAs

I have been trying to write a diary entry about this year’s Canadian Country Music Awards, but I don’t know how to put it into words.  I really don’t.After being last year’s most nominated female artist and walking away without a trophy, suddenly this year I found myself standing there holding not only the Songwriter of the Year CCMA for Johnny Reid’s “Dance with Me”, but also the CCMA for Female Artist of the Year!!!

If you saw it happen on CBC TV, you must have seen the shock on my face.  It was genuine.  I was in a category up against incredibly talented women who have blazed a trail of CCMA wins before me, and who I consider to be stellar vocalists and songwriters.

Even though I’ve penned a lot of songs people would recognize, I’m still pretty new on the scene as an artist in my own right, and it was a HUGE honour that the industry chose to vote for me and recognize me in that capacity this weekend.  If you’re not a big CMT watcher or country radio listener, I wouldn’t be surprised if you were out there saying ”who the heck is Victoria Banks?”

So if you’ve come to look me up for the first time, let me introduce myself to you….

I’m a thirty-something, proud Canadian woman.  I took a crazy leap of faith to do what I love for a living.  I’ve driven clunker cars, eaten a lot of Ramen noodles, and lived in roach-infested apartments along the way.  I’ve fought my way out of an abusive relationship, gone through the heartache of divorce, and lost a family member to suicide, and I don’t know how I would have survived any of it without my music.  I worked as a songwriter for ten years before I poured every ounce of my heart into my debut CD as a songwriter, singer, and as a producer.  When you listen to my CD, I hope you can hear how much I love what I do, and I hope the music touches you in a healing way, because that’s the reason I’m doing what I’m doing.

I honestly never expected to stand on a stage and accept awards for doing what I love, but I have to admit, it feels pretty amazing to be able to say…Hello Canada!  I’m Victoria Banks…2010 Songwriter and Female Artist of the Year!!