Every Sunday evening at 6pm thousands of radios all over Central and eastern North Carolina are tuned to 94.7 QDR for the PineCone Bluegrass Show. Whether at home, at work or riding in their cars, some 4,000,000 listeners per year know that from the opening strains of Earl Scruggs’ “Nashville Blues,” Larry Nixon and Tim Woodall will broadcast three hours of the best in bluegrass, old and new. The program is sponsored by the Piedmont Council of Traditional Music, or PineCone. For more information on the radio show visit pinecone.org.
The show was featured in an article in “Bluegrass Today” …you can read it here.
Meet Larry and Tim
Larry Nixon is from Elkin, North Carolina, near Galax, Virginia, the heart of mountain and traditional music country. When Larry was 12, his grandfather gave him a banjo, and since then Larry has been hooked on music, winning a talent show in the eighth grade. Larry has enjoyed playing all types of music but has returned to his “roots,” the re-creation and preservation of the finger-picking styles of guitar that he first heard in the 1960’s. Larry attended NC State University and is a consulting engineer in Raleigh. He was one of the original directors of PineCone.
Tim Woodall is the elder statesman of local bluegrass group The Grass Cats. Having played banjo for 30 years or so, he also has interest in many other types of music. As a studio musician, Tim has recorded pedal steel, bass, and guitar in addition to banjo. Occasionally he will step out front to sing lead if there are cue cards available, but he is more comfortable singing harmony. Another hobby since the age of 13 is radio broadcasting. He acquired his FCC License in 1967, and his first radio job came along in 1989 with the Pinecone Bluegrass Show.
Weekly Playlist
PineCone Playlist: March 23rd, 2025
Artist | Song Title | Album Title | Record Label |
Country Gazette | Great American Banjo Tune | Hello Operator | |
J.D. Crowe & the New South | Red Rocking Chair | Live in Japan | |
The Rice Brothers | Don’t think twice | The Rice Brothers | Rounder |
Jason Carter/Michael Cleveland | Outrun the rain | Single | |
Chris Jones | The man on the side of the road | Lost Souls and Spirits | |
The Country Gentlemen | Souvenirs | The Country Gentlemen | |
Sister Sadie | All will be well | Single | |
Seldom Scene | West Texas Wind | A change of scenery | Sugar Hill |
Lonesome River Band | Old Country Town | Old Country Town | Rebel |
Terry Baucom/Buddy Melton | Carry me back to Carolina | Never thought of looking back | |
Red Camel Collective | Last time I saw him | Single | |
Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs | John Henry | Foggy Mountain Banjo | Sony |
Billy Strings | Seven weeks in county | Single | |
Clyde Mattocks | Rebecca | Hugging the Hound | |
Sturgill Simpson | Sea Stories | Cuttin’ Grass Vol 2 | |
Scottie Sparks | In my arms not in my memory | Scottie Sparks | |
Lonesome River Band | Struttin’ to Ferrum | No Turning Back | |
Johnson Mountain Boys | Our Last Goodbye | Blue Diamond | |
Joe Mullins | Katy Daly | They’re playing my song | |
Lost and Found | If it hadn’t been for you | Love, Lost and Found | Rebel |
Alison Krauss & Union Station | So long, So wrong | So long, So Wrong | Rounder |
Al Batten & the Bluegrass Reunion | Always marry an ugly girl | Instrumentals & Insanities | |
Del McCoury | Asheville Turnaround | It’s just the night | McCoury |
Doc Watson | More pretty girls than one | Elementary Doctor Watson | |
Junior Sisk | He dies a round at 21 | Load the Wagon | |
Larry Cordle | Stray Cat | Songs from the workbench | |
Larry Cordle, Glenn Duncan & Lonesome Standard Time | Little Cecil | Larry Cordle, Glenn Duncan & Lonesome Standard Time | Sugar Hill |
Dale Ann Bradley/Vince Gill | I’ll just go away | Dale Ann Bradley | |
Joe Diffie | Somehow Tonight | Homecoming | |
Daniel Grindstaff | Finnland | Heroes and Friends | |
The Grascals | Saro Jane | The Grascals | |
Lou Reid & Carolina | Time | Time | |
The Grass Cats | 85 on 85 | The Old School Road | New Time |
Tony Rice | Billy in the low ground | California Autum | Rounder |
Nixon, Blevins and Gage | Just a bowl of butterbeans | Picking with Friends | Clover |
Larry Cordle/Alison Krauss | Two Highways | All-Star Duets | |
The Osborne Brothers | Me and my old banjo | Once more | Sugar Hill |
Jaelee Roberts | Looking for yourself | Looking for yourself | |
Ricky Skaggs | Amanda Jewell | Live at the Charleston Music Hall | Skaggs |
Rhonda Vincent | Muleskinner Blues | Ragin’ Live | Rounder |
Darin & Brooke Aldridge | The Price I pay | Single | |
Jason Carter | Highway 52 | Lowdown Hoedown | |
J.D. Crowe & the New South | Grandpa’s Shoes | Come on down to my world | Rounder |
J.D. Crowe & the New South | Rock Salt and Nails | J.D. Crowe & the New South | Rounder |
Bluegrass 2022 | EMD | Bluegrass 2022 | Pinecastle |
J.D. Crowe & the New South | I’m not broke | J.D. Crowe & the New South | Sugar Hill |
II Generation | Hide your love | II Generation | |
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver | Love on arrival | Drive Time |