Tim Story and Dwight Ashley met in the fall of 1976, where they briefly worked together at a local music store. Ten years later a chance meeting reconnected the two, and they soon discovered they still had the same thing in common: music. A few shared tapes led to talk of a collaboration, which later became the 1991 Ashley/Story release, A Desperate Serenity.

The two have maintained their collaborative relationship over the years with appearances at The Gatherings Series in Philadelphia, PA, and two additional releases under the Ashley/Story title, as well as a collaboration with Hans-Joachim Roedelius.