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: April 7th, 2025
Artist | Song Title | Album Title | Record Label |
Bluegrass 95 | Paddy on the Turnpike | Bluegrass 95 | Pinecastle |
Steve Gulley & New Pinnacle | She’s a taker | Steve Gulley & New Pinnacle | |
Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out | Heading East to West Viginia | Single | |
Larry Sparks | I’m bound to ride | Best of Larry Sparks | Rebel |
Jim Mills | Ground Hog | Bound to Ride | Sugar Hill |
Balsam Range | East Virginia Blues | Trains I missed | |
Larry Cordle | Cherokee Shuffle | Where the trees know my name | |
Daniel Grindstaff | Collen Malone | Heroes and Friends | |
Charlie Sizemore | That’s how I got to Memphis | ||
Billy Strings | Leaning on a traveling song | Highway Prayer | |
Country Gentlemen | Redwood Hill | The Award-Winning Country Gentlemen | |
Junior Sisk | A far cry from Lester and Earl | The Heart of a Song | |
Bill Monroe | Uncle Pen | Bean Blossom | MCA |
Ricky Skaggs | Road to Spencer | History of the Future | Skaggs |
Flatt & Scruggs | You’re just a drop in the bucket | The Complete Mercury Sessions | Mercury |
The Grass Cats | Just to see you smile | Home to Carolina | New Time |
Seldom Scene | City of New Orleans | Live at the Cellar Door | Rebel |
Laura Orshaw | Hank | Solitary Diamond | |
Little Roy Lewis | Little Roy’s Banjo | Gospel Banjo | |
J.D. Crowe & the Kentucky Mountain Boys | Little girl in Tennessee | Bluegrass Holiday | Rebel |
Alison Krauss & Union Station | Snow | Arcadia | |
Alison Krauss & Union Station | One day of shine | Arcadia | |
Jerry Douglas | Wheel Hoss | Everything’s gonna work out fine | Rounder |
Constant Change | The Rabbit Song | Evolving | |
Chris Jones | Uphill Climb | Lost Souls and Free Spirits | |
Doc Watson | Tennessee | Will the Circle be Unbroken Vol 1 | |
Al Batten & the Bluegrass Reunion | Redneck love song | Instrumentals & Insanities | |
Sister Sadie | All will be well | Single | |
Darin & Brokke Aldridge | The Price I Pay | Single | |
Darin & Brokke Aldridge | Someday soon | Single | |
Hammertowne | Iver Johnson is my name | Hammertowne | |
King James Boys | Ready and Waiting | Get a transfer | |
Jimmy Martin | Home Run Man | Fifty Golden Years of Bluegrass | |
Lonesome River Band | Highway paved with pain | Old Country Store | Rebel |
Molly Tuttle | El Dorado | City of Gold | |
Lou Reid, Terry Baucom & Carolina | Big Mon | Carolina Moon | Rebel |
Lou Reid & Carolina | Amanda Lynn | My own set of rules | |
Kody Norris | The Auctioneer | Single | |
Po’ Ramblin Boys | East Bound and Down | Single | |
Russell Johnson | Old Moonshiner | Anytime, Any Place but only you | New Time |
Carl Jackson & John Starling | Lonesome Dove | Spring Training | Sugar Hill |
Darrell Webb Band | If you’re thinking you want a stranger | Lovers Leap | |
Nixon, Blevins & Gage | Ready for the times | Pickin’ on Doc | Clover |
Country Gazette | Cabin on a mountain | Hello Operator | |
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver | Leaving on her mind | Live in Prague | |
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver | I’d rather die young | The Original Band | Sugar Hill |
Sturgill Simpson | Life ain’t fair | Cuttin’ Grass Vol 1 | |
Sturgill Simpson | Sitting here without you | Cuttin’ Grass Vol 1 | |
Bluegrass Album Band | Devil in Disguise | California Connection | Rounder |
Bluegrass Album Band | On my way back to the old home | Bluegrass Album Band Vol 1 | Rounder |
Seldom Scene | Different Roads | Old Train | Rebel |
Seldom Scene | In Despair | A change of scenery | Sugar Hill |
Rhonda Vincent | Jolene | Ragin’ live | Rounder |
Rhonda Vincent | Busy City | Only me |