From a Wildwood Flower to a Texas Rose…

Ellen Story hails from small-town Tennessee, where she grew up playing a variety of genres with her parents in The Appleton Family Band. From a young age, she showed a propensity for picking up any instrument she could get her hands on; first the violin, then on to mandolin, guitar, and piano (just to name a few). Classically trained, Ellen participated in local youth orchestras and concerto competitions on the violin.

At 16, Ellen uprooted to Natick, Massachusetts, where she deepened her classical journey at Walnut Hill School for the Arts, in addition to studying privately and playing in the Youth Philharmonic Orchestra at New England Conservatory. Despite the intense classical training, Ellen clung to her passion for fiddling, and upon graduation she was accepted into the prestigious Berklee College of Music, where she learned from fiddle greats such as Darol Anger, Bruce Molsky, and Jason Anick. It was during her college years that she, along with 3 of her colleagues (Layth Al-Rubaye of Jordan, Naseem Alatrash of Palestine, and Alliz Espi of the UK), formed the Four Corners Quartet, drawing from their musical backgrounds to create a rich and innovative quartet experience. She graduated from Berklee with a BA in Professional Music.

Ellen has performed at Carnegie Hall with the True North Orchestra and The Three Tenors, the Annie Moses Band, and Michael W. Smith; she has also been a featured bluegrass performer at the Grand Ole Opry, accompanying Ron Block of Union Station.

Now a resident of Ellinger, TX, Ellen works as an itinerant fiddler spanning multiple genres, performing and working in recording studios all over Houston, Austin, and surrounding areas.  She frequently plays with local artists and bands including Western Bling, and Slow Meadow.  Most notably, she proudly serves as the fiddler and female vocalist of The Broken Spokes, an award-winning honky tonk group that is taking Texas by storm.