Laura Story
Encyclopedia
Laura Story is an American
Contemporary Christian music
singer-songwriter
from Spartanburg, South Carolina
.
Her single off the album "Blessings" became her first to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Christian Songs chart, making her one of the few female Christian artists to ever reach the top of the singles chart.
. Williams asked Story to join the band and she became their bass
player. Story released four independent albums with the band.
When the band was about to sign a deal with Essential Records
, Story's manager suggested her to record a solo album. In 2002, Story left Silers Bald and began working on her first album, Indescribable, which was released independently that same year. In 2004, the title track of her album was recorded by Chris Tomlin
in his album, Arriving
. Tomlin's version peaked at #2 on Billboard
s Hot Christian Songs
and was included in the compilation album Passion: How Great Is Our God. The band Avalon
also recorded a version of the song for the WOW Worship 2006 album.
Story released her second independent album in 2005, titled There Is Nothing. The album was produced by Ed Cash
and Mitch Dane
. During that year, she also married Martin Elvington, and moved to Atlanta, Georgia
, to become the worship leader and women’s pastor for the arts and music community at Perimeter Church (http://www.perimeter.org).
In 2006, Story signed a record contract with INO Records
and two years later, released her third album, Great God Who Saves
. The album was also produced by Ed Cash. In 2010, she was nominated for a Dove Award for Female Vocalist of the Year at the 41st GMA Dove Awards
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
from Spartanburg, South Carolina
Spartanburg, South Carolina
thgSpartanburg is the largest city in and the county seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. It is the second-largest city of the three primary cities in the Upstate region of South Carolina, and is located northwest of Columbia, west of Charlotte, and about northeast of...
.
Her single off the album "Blessings" became her first to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Christian Songs chart, making her one of the few female Christian artists to ever reach the top of the singles chart.
Career
Story began her career in 1996 when she met Shane Williams, from the band Silers Bald, at Columbia International UniversityColumbia International University
Columbia International University is a Christian institution of higher education located in Columbia, South Carolina. The university is recognized for its emphasis upon spiritual formation, biblical authority and world evangelization.-History:...
. Williams asked Story to join the band and she became their bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
player. Story released four independent albums with the band.
When the band was about to sign a deal with Essential Records
Essential Records (Christian)
Essential Records is a Contemporary Christian record label based in Franklin, Tennessee. It is a division of a major label, Sony Music Entertainment.-History:...
, Story's manager suggested her to record a solo album. In 2002, Story left Silers Bald and began working on her first album, Indescribable, which was released independently that same year. In 2004, the title track of her album was recorded by Chris Tomlin
Chris Tomlin
Christopher Dwayne "Chris" Tomlin is an American Christian Contemporary Music artist, worship leader, and songwriter from Grand Saline, Texas, United States. He is a former staff member at Austin Stone Community Church and is signed to EMI's sixstepsrecords. Tomlin also leads worship at many...
in his album, Arriving
Arriving
Arriving is an album released in 2004 by Chris Tomlin. The album has received RIAA "Platinum" status and peaked at No. 3 on Billboard's Top Christian Albums chart. As of October 2008, "How Great Is Our God" is No. 1, and "Holy Is the Lord" is No...
. Tomlin's version peaked at #2 on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
s Hot Christian Songs
Hot Christian Songs
Christian Songs is a Billboard chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States....
and was included in the compilation album Passion: How Great Is Our God. The band Avalon
Avalon (band)
Avalon is an American contemporary Christian vocal quartet who has earned multiple RIAA-certified gold records, sold four million albums, and released 22 number one Christian hits.- 1995–1997: Formation of Avalon and A Maze of Grace :...
also recorded a version of the song for the WOW Worship 2006 album.
Story released her second independent album in 2005, titled There Is Nothing. The album was produced by Ed Cash
Ed Cash
Ed Cash is a producer, songwriter, engineer, and multi-instrumentalist. He was named the “Producer of the Year” at the Gospel Music Awards for four consecutive years and gains recognition for his work with Christian singer, Chris Tomlin...
and Mitch Dane
Mitch Dane
Mitch Dane is an American record producer based in Nashville, Tennessee. In his 20 years of production/engineering experience, Mitch has worked mostly in Rock, Roots/Rock and Singer/Songwriter records, but continues to work in other styles like Hip-Hop, Industrial and even bluegrass/Americana...
. During that year, she also married Martin Elvington, and moved to Atlanta, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, to become the worship leader and women’s pastor for the arts and music community at Perimeter Church (http://www.perimeter.org).
In 2006, Story signed a record contract with INO Records
INO Records
INO Records, also known as Fair Trade Services, is an American record label based in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, specializing in Contemporary Christian music . It is distributed through Sony Music Entertainment, and was owned by Integrity Media until June 2011. When Integrity Media sold its assets...
and two years later, released her third album, Great God Who Saves
Great God Who Saves
Great God Who Saves is the first official studio album from singer/songwriter Laura Story. The album was released on March 18, 2008.-Track listing:All songs written by Laura Story, except where noted:# "Bless the Lord" - 4:05...
. The album was also produced by Ed Cash. In 2010, she was nominated for a Dove Award for Female Vocalist of the Year at the 41st GMA Dove Awards
41st GMA Dove Awards
The 41st Annual GMA Dove Awards were held on April 21, 2010 recognizing accomplishments of musicians for the year 2009. The show was held at the The Opry Entertainment Complex in Nashville, Tennessee, and was hosted by Bart Millard....
.
Blessings
In May 2011 Story released her fourth album titled Blessings. To date the album has become her biggest commercial success having debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Christian Albums chart, giving Story her highest placement ever on the album chart. In June 2011, the first single off the album also titled "Blessings" reached No. 1 on the Billboard Christian Songs chart, giving Story her first number one hit and making her one of the few female Christian artists to ever reach the top of the singles chart. In an interview, Story explains “Blessings is just a bunch of songs about worshipping when life is hard". Her husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and she wondered "Why didn’t you just fix it, God? You’re all powerful and all loving… just fix it." Later after mentioning her desire to return back to normal, her sister said "You know, I think the detour is actually the road." She realized that “Spending time with [husband] Martin obviously makes me happy, but it makes me a better person. That’s the blessing of it.”Solo Albums
| Year | Album | Billboard Christian Albums (Peak Position) |
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Great God Who Saves Great God Who Saves is the first official studio album from singer/songwriter Laura Story. The album was released on March 18, 2008.-Track listing:All songs written by Laura Story, except where noted:# "Bless the Lord" - 4:05... |
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- Great God Who SavesGreat God Who SavesGreat God Who Saves is the first official studio album from singer/songwriter Laura Story. The album was released on March 18, 2008.-Track listing:All songs written by Laura Story, except where noted:# "Bless the Lord" - 4:05...
also charted on the Billboard Heatseekers AlbumTop HeatseekersTop Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical...
chart peaking at #25. - Blessings also charted on the Billboard Folk AlbumsFolk AlbumsFolk Albums is a music chart published weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks the top selling "current releases by traditional folk artists, as well as appropriate titles by acoustic-based singer-songwriters" in the United States. The chart debuted on the issue dated December 5, 2009...
chart peaking at #3 and on the Billboard 200Billboard 200The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart peaking at #63.
With Silers Bald
| Release date | Title |
|---|---|
| 1997 | Climbing |
| 1998 | Live at Town Theater |
| 1999 | Nothing Else Beside |
| 2000 | Silers Bald |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions |
Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US Christ |
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"Mighty To Save" | |
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Great God Who Saves Great God Who Saves is the first official studio album from singer/songwriter Laura Story. The album was released on March 18, 2008.-Track listing:All songs written by Laura Story, except where noted:# "Bless the Lord" - 4:05... |
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"Blessings" | |
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- "Blessings" also charted on the Billboard Heatseekers SongTop HeatseekersTop Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical...
chart peaking at #18. - "Blessings" also charted on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart peaking at #7.
GMA Dove Awards
| Year | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Song of the Year ("Indescribable") | |
| Worship Song of the Year ("Indescribable") | ||
| 2009 | Female Vocalist of the Year | |
| Inspirational Recorded Song of the Year ("Bless the Lord") | ||
| Inspirational Album of the Year (Great God Who Saves Great God Who Saves Great God Who Saves is the first official studio album from singer/songwriter Laura Story. The album was released on March 18, 2008.-Track listing:All songs written by Laura Story, except where noted:# "Bless the Lord" - 4:05... ) |
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| Praise & Worship Album of the Year (Great God Who Saves) | ||
| 2010 41st GMA Dove Awards The 41st Annual GMA Dove Awards were held on April 21, 2010 recognizing accomplishments of musicians for the year 2009. The show was held at the The Opry Entertainment Complex in Nashville, Tennessee, and was hosted by Bart Millard.... |
Female Vocalist of the Year | |
| 2011 42nd GMA Dove Awards The 42nd Annual GMA Dove Awards were held on April 20, 2011 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. The show will be broadcast on gmc on April 24, 2011. It will be hosted by Sherri Shepherd from The Newlywed Game.... |
Female Vocalist of the Year | |