Laura Story knows there’s truth in the saying “too much of a good thing,” at least when it comes to Christmas records.
The Christian worship leader and singer — who’s collected a Billboard Music Award, a Grammy and four DOVE Awards during her career — wrestled with the idea of adding her name to a long list of artists that have put their own spin on those classic Christmas tunes.
“There’s only so many ways you can sing ‘O Holy Night,’” Story jokingly tells Guideposts.org. “I remember thinking, ‘Why would I ever do this?’ There are so many Christmas albums already out there. What do I have to offer that those other singers haven’t already delivered?”
The answer came in the form of God With Us, Story’s debut Christmas album which landed earlier this year. An eclectic and well-formed mix of traditional holiday fare and a handful of new, original pieces, the album features Story reflecting on the reason for the season – the birth of Jesus Christ – to the accompaniment of a 120-voice choir and a 50-piece orchestra.
Story says the timing of the album couldn’t have been more perfect. Along with her husband and three-year-old daughter, the singer welcomed twin boys late last year.
“It’s insanity everyday at my house,” she says.
But with new blessings came new perspective on a holiday the singer has always loved celebrating.
“My daughter is experiencing Christmas kind of for the first time now and to see her learning about the birth of Jesus and singing these classic carols and really tapping into the meaning of Christmas is just so special,” Story says.
One track on the album, a song called “Just Another Christmas,” speaks to that renewed outlook. Story sings of busy stores, crowded streets and the same old routine we all find ourselves in during the season before pleading “Don’t Let There Be A Moment I Miss/Don’t Let This Be Just Another Christmas.”
Writing the lyrics for the song (and a few others on the record) proved challenging for the artist until she decided to take a fresh approach to retelling the birth of Jesus in melodic form.
“You’re trying to figure out a way of saying something that so many people have said before,” Story said of the songwriting process on this latest album. “A lot of singers focus on that Luke verse when Jesus is born in the manger, but if you look at the scripture before that, so much of the Old Testament is devoted to the birth of Jesus, people anticipating it, prophesying it. I wanted to draw from that when writing.”
Story was able to perform the album in front of a crowd at the Grand Ole Opry’s historic Ryman theater recently – her debut performance at the storied stage – but it was an interview with a radio DJ just a couple of weeks ago that served to remind her how important this kind of music really is.
“A couple of weeks ago I was scheduled to call into the radio station in San Bernadino to talk about the album,” Story says. “This was 24 hours after the shooting. I remember calling the host of the show and saying ‘Look, it’s okay if we cancel. We can just do this another time.’ I didn’t think that, with everything going on, talking about my Christmas album made sense. It was so insignificant, but the host said ‘No. We need this right now. We need to know how Christmas and what it stands for can help us during this time.’”
The host was also aware of Story’s family history – her husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor almost a decade ago.
“We’ve had some tough Christmases too,” Story says. “It just reminded me of why I wrote the album. There are people that have families and friends to spend time with during Christmas. They sit by the fire together and open presents and just enjoy the season, but there are also people that don’t have that kind of experience. The Syrian refugees that find themselves homeless this year, the woman waiting in an ICU room, the families of victims of that shooting — they won’t have that experience this year but God is still with them. That’s what I want people to get from this record.”
