Laura Story

The title track off the album Blessings became her first No. 1 hit on the Billboard Christian Songs chart. The single eventually went on to win the 2012 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Song and achieved Platinum status in the United States.

Once an aspiring symphony conductor, Story didn’t even know she could sing - much less write songs - until she was in her early twenties. So how did a string bassist from South Carolina end up penning a worship anthem known and loved by millions? It all began with a providential moment in the class registration line her sophomore year at Columbia International University in the late 90s.

“I was a YoungLife leader, and I saw another guy in line wearing a YoungLife t-shirt,” Story recalls. “He said he was in a band and asked me if I wanted to come play with them. I had never played in a band – it had never even crossed my mind.”

The band was Silers Bald, who would later become a popular indie pop-rock band in the Southeast. The young man she met was vocalist Shane Williams, and by the time they’d made it through the registration line, Story was their newest female member.

Story started out playing string bass, graduated to electric bass, and then took a stab at vocals when the original female vocalist left. Completely out of her comfort zone but willing to trust God with her newfound vocal ability, she even tried her hand at songwriting, and their fans desired more. “The Lord taught me that it’s not necessarily what I think my strengths are. That’s not how He determines what He’s going to use,” says Story.

Five years and many road miles later, Story found herself being led a different direction musically, just as Silers Bald was on the brink of signing a deal with Essential Records. “I knew the Lord was telling me it was time for something new, and I needed to be in or out,” says Story. They amicably parted ways and Story ended up touring with folk-rock artist Andrew Peterson that spring.

When her manager suggested she record an independent album with the songs she had written while in Silers, Story was still unconvinced her vocals could stand on their own: “Why would I do that?” she answered. “That would mean I’d have to sing on it!” Besides, she was out of money and didn’t have enough songs for a full record.

But those challenges were overcome in 2002, when Story began recording her first independent album with producer Stephen Gause. Soon after, she was driving down a mountain road, when she started worshiping and singing, “Indescribable…uncontainable…You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name…”. Story added verses on the piano and finished the song while reading Job Chapter 38. Her first record was now complete.

What brought “Indescribable” into churches all across the U.S. and the world was when Chris Tomlin recorded it for his 2004 release, Arriving, produced by Ed Cash (Caedmon’s Call, Bebo Norman, Bethany Dillon). When Cash, a longtime friend of Story’s from YoungLife circles, suggested that Tomlin use “Indescribable” as his first single, Story was shocked.

“Indescribable” flew up the AC charts where it stayed 1 for 7 weeks and in the top 15 for 50 weeks. The song was also included on the Passion CD/DVD in 2005, Tomlin’s 2006 release, Live From Austin Music Hall, and performed by Avalon for WoW Worship 2006.

In 2005, Story released her second independent album, There Is Nothing, produced by Ed Cash and Mitch Dane (Jars of Clay). That same year she married her high school sweetheart, Martin Elvington, and moved to Atlanta to become the worship leader and women’s pastor for the arts and music community at Perimeter Church.

In 2006, Story signed a recording contract with INO Records and two years later released her first studio album, but third album overall, Great God Who Saves. The album also was produced by Ed Cash. In 2010, she was nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year at the 41st GMA Dove Awards. Story released the album Blessings, in 2011, and another album, God of Every Story, on September 30, 2013.

God with Us is the first Christmas album from Laura Story. Fair Trade Services released the album on October 9, 2015. She worked with Brown Bannister, Cliff Duren, Jeff Pardo, and Ben Shive, in the production of this album. Story released her next album, Open Hands, on March 3, 2017. Two years later she released an EP, I Give Up, in June 2019.