Laura Story
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Laura Mixon Story Elvington is an American contemporary Christian music singer-songwriter. Billboard ranked her as the 40th Top Christian Artist of the 2010s. She has won a Grammy and six GMA Dove Awards. Her second studio album, Blessings, reached No. 1 on Top Christian Albums & Americana/Folk Albums (where it spent three weeks atop the charts), and peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard 200. It also achieved RIAA Gold status.
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.
Education
Story originally attended the University of South Carolina, majoring in music, before transferring to Columbia International University. Story received a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Columbia International University in 2003. She received a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Covenant Theological Seminary. She earned a Doctor of Worship Studies from The Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies in 2019, with a thesis titled "Developing Worship Leaders On Approaching God With Reverence, Johns Creek, Georgia."
Career
Story began her career in 1996 when she met Shane Williams, from the band Silers Bald, at Columbia International University. 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 she record a solo album. In 2002, Story left Silers Bald and began working on her first album, Indescribable, released independently that same year. In 2004, the title track of her album was recorded by Chris Tomlin on his album Arriving. Tomlin's version peaked at No.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 an associate worship leader at Perimeter Church.
In 2006, Story signed a recording contract with INO Records and two years later released her third album, 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.
Blessings
In May 2011 Story released her fourth album, Blessings. To date, the album ranks as her biggest commercial success, having debuted at No. 2 on Billboard Christian Albums, 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. In an interview, Story explains, "Blessings is just a bunch of songs about worshiping when life is hard". After her husband Martin Elvington was diagnosed with a brain tumor, she asked, "Why didn't you just fix it, God? You're all powerful and all loving… just fix it." Later, after Story mentioned her desire to return to a normal life, her sister responded, "You know, I think the detour is actually the road." Story realized, "Spending time with Martin obviously makes me happy, but it makes me a better person. That's the blessing of it."
After the success of Story's Grammy-winning song "Blessings", a 30-day devotional book was released entitled What If Your Blessings Come Through Raindrops? (Worthy Publishing, 2012 ISBN978-1-60587-322-0). Each chapter contains thoughts, prayers and quotes along with a journaling page for readers to recall blessings they have seen in their own lives.
Discography
Solo albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US Christ. | US Folk | |||
| Indescribable | Release date: October 21, 2002 Label: Independent Format: CD | — | — | — | |
| There is Nothing | Release date: April 11, 2005 Label: Independent Format: CD | — | — | — | |
| Great God Who Saves | Release date: March 18, 2008 Label: Sony, INO Format: CD, digital download | — | 25 | — | |
| Blessings | Release date: April 12, 2011 Label: INO Format: CD, digital download | 30 | 1 | 1 | RIAA: Gold |
| God of Every Story | Release date: September 30, 2013 Label: Fair Trade Format: CD, digital download | 103 | 7 | 6 | |
| God with Us | Release date: October 9, 2015 Label: Fair Trade Format: CD, digital download | — | 13 | 8 | |
| Open Hands | Release date: March 3, 2017 Label: Fair Trade Format: CD, digital download | — | 28 | 25 | |
| I Give Up - EP | Release date: June 28, 2019 Label: Fair Trade Format: CD, digital download, streaming | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes release that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
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 | Certifications | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Bub. | US Christ. | US Christ. Airplay | US Christ. AC | ||||
| 2008 | "Mighty to Save" | — | 9 | 9 | 7 | Great God Who Saves | |
| 2011 | "Blessings" | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | RIAA: Platinum | Blessings |
| "What a Savior" | – | 5 | 5 | 8 | |||
| 2013 | "I Can Just Be Me" | — | 16 | 12 | 12 | God of Every Story | |
| "Grace" | – | – | — | — | |||
| 2014 | "O Love of God" | — | — | 44 | — | ||
| 2017 | "Open Hands" (featuring Mac Powell) | — | 30 | 22 | 21 | Open Hands | |
| "Extraordinary" | — | — | 39 | — | |||
| "—" denotes release that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
- "Blessings" also charted on the Billboard Heatseekers Song chart peaking at No.18.
Awards and nominations
Grammy Awards
| Year | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Best Contemporary Christian Music Song ("Blessings") | Won |
GMA Dove Awards
| Year | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Song of the Year ("Indescribable") | Nominated |
| Worship Song of the Year ("Indescribable") | Nominated | |
| 2009 | Female Vocalist of the Year | Nominated |
| Inspirational Recorded Song of the Year ("Bless the Lord") | Nominated | |
| Inspirational Album of the Year (Great God Who Saves) | Won | |
| Praise & Worship Album of the Year (Great God Who Saves) | Nominated | |
| 2010 | Female Vocalist of the Year | Nominated |
| 2011 | Female Vocalist of the Year | Nominated |
| 2012 | Artist of the Year | Nominated |
| Female Vocalist of the Year | Nominated | |
| Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year ("Blessings") | Won | |
| Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year (Blessings) | Won | |
| Song of the Year ("Blessings") | Won | |
| 2015 | Inspiration Recorded Song of the Year ("O Love of God") | Won |
| 2016 | Inspiration Recorded Song of the Year ("Till I Met You") | Won |
| Christmas Album of the Year (God With Us) | Nominated |
Bibliography
- What If Your Blessings Come Through Raindrops?, Worthy Publishing, 2012
- When God Doesn't Fix It, Worthy Publishing, 2015