In February, Laura Story won her first Grammy Award.
Less than two weeks later, she landed a notable five nominations for the Dove Awards, the Christian music equivalent of the Grammys which will be handed out Thursday at the Fox Theatre.
She’s easily one of the most buzzworthy contemporary Christian music acts currently charting, evidenced further that a year after its release, “Blessings,” her second album, is No. 17 on Billboard’s Christian Albums chart and the latest single from the recording, “What a Savior,” sits at No. 9 on the rundown of Christian Songs.
But on an afternoon last week at a Starbucks in Johns Creek, the gregarious singer, unadorned of makeup, hair pulled into a ponytail, small baby bump protruding behind a simple pink shirt, presented herself as the farthest thing from an entitled music star.
Story is the type who greets you with a handshake, but says goodbye with a hug. And in between comes a lot of easy laughs and endearing self-deprecation (of her numerous Dove nods she remarked, “Clearly they’re running out of people to nominate!”).
But while Story, 34, is proud of her musical breakthroughs this year, she sees her calling as something far more important than a G-chord.
“At the end of the day, I really don’t care if [people] know my name. It means more to me that they would hear a story about two people who have struggled through health issues and seen God’s faithfulness in the midst of it all. That’s what I want people to know,” Story said.
The other in the two-person equation she mentions is Martin, her husband of nearly eight years. The health issue? The brain tumor he was diagnosed with six years ago, shortly after they moved to Johns Creek from South Carolina (Story was born in Augusta but grew up in Spartanburg, S.C.).
Though the tumor was removed, the trauma from the surgery left Martin with some vision and memory deficits. But he’s recently started working again, handling the merchandise table at Story’s live shows and doing an internship at Perimeter Church in Johns Creek, where Story works as a worship leader.
Their decision to start a family wasn’t reached easily. But after much prayer and discussion with close friends, they resolved to try.
They received an answer quickly; Story is due in September.
“I feel like we’ve had a lot of deaths of dreams and just because we had to say goodbye to some of those dreams doesn’t mean we have to say goodbye to all of them,” Story said.
Later in the conversation, when talk turns back to the meaning of awards and accolades, Story re-iterates the motivation behind some of her songwriting, particularly the title track of the Grammy-winning “Blessings,” with its chorus that asks, “What if your blessings come through raindrops? What if your healing comes through tears?”
“I can honestly say what we’ve walked through is too hard for me. I’m kind of a wimp, and we would not have made it through without God,” she said. “The fact that we’re together is truly an act of God. There were times when we didn’t know if we were going to make it. Those are the things I want people to hear.”
Story also just released “What if Your Blessings Come Through Raindrops,” a 30-day devotional. She’s dedicated to sharing her, well, stories, not only through her recorded and written works, but onstage, both in concert and at church.
“My music isn’t anything too difficult. Probably not even too creative, either,” she said with a laugh. “But it’s just meant to be helpful and accessible to people”
Story recorded “Blessings” at friend -- and Johns Creek neighbor -- Chris Tomlin’s house, with production by Nathan Nockels, who lives in the Crabapple area.
Story’s history with fellow contemporary Christian luminary Tomlin (also a Grammy winner this year) reaches back to 2004, when Tomlin recorded the Story-penned “Indescribable,” a No. 1 hit in the Christian realm.
Story, who began playing bass at age 10 and nurtured the talent through college, wrote the majority of the songs on the reflective “Blessings,” but received an assist from Third Day’s Mac Powell on “Your Name Will Be Praised.”
“He’s just one of those good guys. He’s one of the people I met early on who has been really mentoring in a way. He’s willing to be honest about things in [Third Day’s] career that have been helpful and also about mistakes they’ve made so I don’t do the same things,” Story said.
The admiration society between Story and Powell is mutual.
“I think she’s an amazing part of the [Christian] industry, not only as a great musician and female artist, but as a great songwriter,” Powell said, “I hope we do work together again soon. I’m very proud of her success.”
Story is performing through July – mostly on weekends – on the “Girls Night Live” tour with former “American Idol” belter Mandisa.
“I loved her from day one,” Story said. “She and I are like glitter meets granola. And I’m the granola one.”
This summer, Story plans to hit the studio to record a new album and work more at the church before taking maternity leave in the fall. After that, she, Martin and the new baby will trundle onto a tour bus with a back room converted into a nursery and participate in a Christmas tour headlined by Steven Curtis Chapman (a Dec. 16 date at Gwinnett Arena is penciled in).
But first, there is still ministry to share, and Story’s commitment to dispensing her candid admissions will be unchanged by motherhood, a shelf of multiplying trophies or her own struggles.
“What I’ve learned is that people aren’t necessarily attracted to the stories where people win the lottery,” Story said. “For us, it’s been a path of brokenness, and people are a whole lot more interested in how you kept your faith in the midst of that.”
Award show preview
“43rd Annual GMA Dove Awards”
7:30 p.m. Thursday . $35-$200. Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta. 1-800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com. The ceremony airs at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. April 24 on GMC.
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