Photo: Bob Story | Dennis Wanebo writes: For all of Bob’s friends, and anyone with an interest in perfectly amazing human beings … Bob Story, 72, took his final curtain call on September 1, 2026 in Boulder, Colorado. Born in Anchorage, Alaska, Bob was a member of the Athabascan Chickaloon tribe. He built a life defined by music and a wide-ranging creative drive. He was a graduate of Musician’s Institute in Hollywood, where he was recognized as Student of the Year. His songwriting project, Martian Acres, earned honors in the John Lennon songwriting contest for the songs “Diamond in the Rough” (2003), and “The Road to Hell” (2006). Those early accomplishments reflected the direction of a life that remained closely tied to songwriting, performance, recording and collaboration for more than four decades.
Bob’s career carried him through a remarkable variety of musical settings. He played with the Original Drifters and with countless bands around Atlanta. His work also took him abroad, including tours in Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, and in Italy, with the band Hippie Tendencies and singer Lisa Bell. He and Lisa also played at SXSW and the Sundance Film Festival. The two of them partnered on Song of Hope, a project that wrote songs for children with life-threatening illnesses. He also performed on Caribbean cruise ships, adding yet another dimension to a long and active life in music.
For over 20 years, Bob and his songwriting partner, Dennis Wanebo, collaborated on the project, Martian Acres, an important part of his creative life. He cowrote, recorded, and produced several albums for Martian Acres as well as his own solo albums. He was the guitar accompanist for Rebecca Folsom’s Vocal Freedom workshops, where he found his voice as a singer … something Bob had always dreamed of.
He was rarely found without a guitar in his hands or seated in his recording studio, where microphones, instruments, and mixing boards formed the setting for so much of his daily work. Music was not simply a profession for Bob; it was the steady thread running through his life, and he pursued it across rock, jazz, country, and many other forms.
Perhaps of even greater significance than the above was Bob’s impact on the numerous guitar students across the years, who were fortunate enough to have found him. His teaching method was highly personalized for each student … and, in many instances, Bob was both teacher and mentor. A large number of current players can trace their sense of musical freedom and experimental whimsy to the time they spent with Bob Story.
Outside of music, Bob devoted time to pursuits that also mattered deeply to him. When he could be pulled away from the studio, he was an avid mountain biker and hiker. He also had a green thumb and cared for many plants of all kinds. In his younger days, he loved playing basketball, especially with his son Max; and, later, he became a huge fan of basketball great Caitlin Clark.
Bob was a fiery, passionate person who lived for music, mountain biking, his plants, and birds.
Bob is remembered by his wife, Kelly Shanafelt; his son, Max Story; and his sisters Brenda Odom and Elly Beck. He was preceded in death by Elsie Story (Corey), Jeff Story and siblings Patti Thompson and Rick Story. Kelly and Max send great thanks to all the friends, neighbors and family who have been so caring for the last several years.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Children’s Hospital Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders: https://secure.childrenscoloradofoundation.org/site/Donation2
Donations will be matched through October. Please indicate “in honor of Bob Story and Martha Riedel”
A Celebration of Life will be held on October 3, 2026, from 06:30 PM to 09:30 PM at Junkyard Social, 2525 Frontier Ave in Boulder.
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Photo: Bob Story | From Dennis Wanebo’s Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10242688433049110&set=a.2694283838448
