Paris Wells - The Voice of Victoria
Friday, 4 September 2009
Melbourne's shooting star, the vivacious and ever-prolific Paris Wells, has now become the voice of Victoria. Her version of the 1920s spiritual classic I Went Down to the River to Pray has been commissioned as the soundtrack for a landmark new advertising campaign for Tourism Victoria. On the track, Paris is supported by the Brunswick Women's Choir who were brought into the fold by respected music supervisors Level Two Music. The $7.3 million campaign will run nationally over the next three years and is aimed to promote regional Victoria – spearheaded by the picturesque Daylesford area - as Australia's "premium indulgence and wellbeing destination".The song, which first emerged almost a century ago, was again popularised in the past decade thanks to its placement in the seminal Coen brothers' film O Brother, Where Art Thou?. This is the second year in a row which will feature Paris in one of the country's biggest advertising pushes after her track Grace Baby was selected for Myer's colossal 2008 branding campaign.
Since releasing her debut LP Keep It in mid-'08, Paris' skyward journey has happened in the blink of an eye thanks to word of mouth which saw her sell-out nationwide tours and propelled her onto stage at some of the country's most loved and prestigious music festivals like Big Day Out, Good Vibrations, Sound Relief, Falls Festival and Meredith. The feisty songbird has just locked herself away in a New York studio to begin work on her highly anticipated sophomore album (due for release through Illusive in early 2010).
