n e w r i v e r c o a l -

2000 news
back to current news

december 31, 2000
josh and josiah play a new year's eve concert at grace bible church in ceiba, puerto rico. local band, believing didymus opens things up for josiah and josh. following the concert the gbc youth group hosted a coffee house which was enjoyed by all. centermark partner brian patton, patrick martin, brian martin, and will smith debuted as "willenuim and the boys" with their hit song 2000 + 1.

december 27, 2000
josh arrives in puerto rico.

december 25, 2000
Christmas Day!

december 15, 2000
josiah flies to puerto rico along with his sister rebecca, centermark partner and friend brian patton, his roommate patrick martin, and patrick's older brother brian.

august 18, 2000
summer finale. jacob's ladder coffee house once again hosted the sounds of new river coal. the mc of the evening was john king. sam judd, benny warden, and lee ann bell all provided opening music before nrc took the stage. in the middle of nrc's second song, the mixing board was fried! this obviously caused some problems. after many attempts to repair the equipment, the guys continued their summer finale with an all acoustic set.

august 16, 2000
sam rejoins the band again for a concert at faith baptist church in prosperity, west virginia. the band really enjoyed having sam back again.

august 13, 2000
after an outdoor potluck supper, daniels bible church hosted their own new river coal for an evening of music at the church. the weather was beautiful and everyone enjoyed the evening. sam was again unable to join the band due to illness.

august 11, 2000
josiah and josh played an acoustic set at serendipity coffee house in uptown beckley.

august 5, 2000
new river coal was invited to play music for Adopt-A-Highway's annual picnic at pipestem state park.

august 2, 2000
the band played a concert at their own church's youth group, daniels bible church. sam was unable to attend the concert due to illness, but the other boys played on without him.

july 30, 2000
new river coal plays a concert at locust grove baptist church in sam and josiah's native huntington, west virginia. it was a great evening of music and ministry along with many friends and family of the band.

july 23, 2000
happy birthday to josiah smith!

july 21, 2000
NRC enjoyed a great day at Beckley Mainstreet in uptown Beckley Friday, July, 21, 2000. A few hundred people turned out to hear the bands. NRC was opening for Ezekial's Vision, a great band that played a great concert. NRC made the local news, and sold a lot of albums, and some to first-time NRC listeners. Josiah (virtually coming out of the closet as a songwriter) debuted his new song "Nothing Without You", a song you will be hearing more of in the future. They rounded out the show with a unique twist on "Agatha", sung by Josiah and Josh.

july 14, 2000
new river coal were guests on randy warden's friday evening, primetime radio broadcast of TGIF (tune God in first) on WJLS AM560. the band answered some questions about the music, the songs and about a relationship with God. randy played the band's songs; "honest ambiguity", the band's first song to be played over the radio, "through the fog" as well as a vintage randy stonehill song, among others. another first for the band was playing two songs, live on the air, in the studio; "seeker" from the album, and a newer song called "good news for the losers".

july 4, 2000
coaL altered the name of the band to "new river coal".

june 30, 2000
serendipity coffee house on neville street in beckley, west virginia hosted "an evening of folk music" featuring the members of coaL and guests; benny warden, kim buttram, linda buttram, jodi buttram, jessi buttram and gina smith. josiah smith debuted a few of his new songs, sam smith and his wife of 13 days sang a new song and josh buttram debuted a new song called; "new river coal". A great evening of folk at a wonderful place.

june 17, 2000
Sam Smith and Gina Gayle Hanks celebrated
the Covenant of Marriage with a ceremony at Daniels Bible
Church. Music was provided in part by, Josiah Smith, Josh
Buttram and album co-producer, Centermark chief, Mark Breta, with John Paice in charge of sound. Those standing with the groom included Josiah Smith, and Centermark partner, Brian Patton.

june 4, 2000
coaL played for a Sunday evening service at Fresno Bible Church and had a wonderful night there. Pastor Chris and the whole church were very hospitable to the band and the "coal wives".

may 25, 2000
new river coal''s debut album, here comes our hero, is set for a july release. watch the news for more information concerning this exciting album.

may 25, 2000
the official website of new river coal (www.ilovecoal.com) officially opens it's doors. this website will offer exclusive information on the music of new river coal.