In this episode of Pelham Place, I welcome singer-songwriter Victoria Banks. Victoria moved to Nashville in 1997 with the prospects of becoming one of the greats in songwriting. She has contributed to many chart-breaking songs like Saints and Angels (Sara Evans), Come on Over (Jessica Simpson), and most notably What Are You Gonna Tell Her (Mickey Guyton). An honorable mention goes to Garth Brooks for recording Midnight at a Red Light, although it was never released. Victoria shares with us her experience working in the music industry as a woman, being a part of a historic moment in country music, and gives us an in-depth description of how things work behind-the-scenes at NBC's Songland.

TIMESTAMPS:

[00:00] Introduction

[02:00] Songland

[02:30] Pitching a song to Florida Georgia Line

[05:50] The behind-the-scenes process

[11:07] Feeling connected to a historic moment in country music

[14:45] Co-Writing What Are You Gonna Tell Her? With Mickey Guyton

[17:58] Watching the ACM awards

[19:52] Blogpost; Thank You, Garth – A moment with Garth Brooks

[26:05] Painstakingly care for the music

[27:19] Midnight at a Red Light – The song that Garth Brooks recorded, but hasn’t released

[28:55] Podcast; The Table Women

[34:25] Seeing the industry finally making some change

[35:50] Advice for aspiring songwriters

[40:33] Connect with Victoria

Connect with Victoria Banks:

• Website: https://www.victoriabanks.net/

Referenced people/sources:

• Mickey Guyton: https://www.mickeyguyton.com
• Garth Brooks: https://garthbrooks.com
• NBC’s Songland: https://www.nbc.com/songland
• Florida Georgia Line: https://floridageorgialine.com/

Songwriter Resources:

• Nashville Songwriters Association International - https://www.nashvillesongwriters.com/
• SongTown - https://songtown.com/
• Global Songwriters Connection (GSC) - https://globalsongwriters.com/