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 2nd, 2025
Artist | Song Title | Album Title | Record Label |
Max Wereham | Black Mountain Rag | DAGGOMIT | Nine Athens |
Bill Monroe | Georgia Rose | In the Pines | MCA |
Bluegrass Album Band | Someone Took My Place With You | Volume V | Rounder |
Tony Trischka/Billy Strings | Browns Ferry Blues | Earl Jam | Down the Road |
Rice Brothers | Grapes on the Vine | The Rice Brothers | Rounder |
Danny Paisley | Till Lonesome Comes Around | (single) | Pinecastle |
Osborne Brothers | Lorena | When the Roses Bloom | |
Daniel Grindstaff | Looking at the World Thru a Windshield | Heroes and Friends | Bonfire |
Country Gentlemen | Two Little Boys | Bluegrass, The World’s Greatest | Sugar Hill |
Woody Platt | Toe the Line | Far Away With You | Compass |
Lonesome River Band | Highway Paved With Pain | Old Country Town | Sugar Hill |
Kody Norris | Auctioneer | (single) | Rebel |
Grascals | Road of Life | And Then There’s This | Mountain Home |
Nashville Bluegrass Band | The Boys Are Back In Town | (same) | Sugar Hill |
King James Boys | Ready and Waitin’ | Get a Transfer | |
Wyatt Ellis/Peter Rowan | Winds of Roan County | (single) | Knee High |
Kicking Grass Band | Gasoline Blues | The Kicking Grass Band | |
Becky Buller/Molly Tuttle | Reach | (single) | Dark Shadow |
Amanda Cooke | Last Road Going Home | (single) | Mountain Fever |
Sideline | I’m in Tennessee | (single) | Mountain Home |
Roxboro Connection | The Sound of a Breaking Heart | (Making the Connection) | |
Darin & Brook Aldridge/Vince Gill | A Millio Memories | Talk of the Town | Billy Blue |
Alison Krause | Looks Like the End of the Road | (single) | Rounder |
Sister Sadie | All Will Be Well | (single) | Mountain Home |
Seldom Scene | Last Train From Poor Valley | Different Roads | |
Billy Strings | Leaning on a Traveling Road | Highway Prayer | Rounder |
Shady Grove Band | 40 Years of Trouble | Mulberry Moon | |
Steeldrivers | If It Hadn’t Been for Love | The Steeldrivers | Rounder |
Dale Ann Bradley | Jackson, TN | (single) | Pinecastle |
Grass Cats | I Know It’s Not Me | Desperate Times | New Times |
Alison Brown/Steve Martin/Vince Gill | Wall Guitar | (single) | Compass |
Tony Rice | Blue Railroad Train | Manzanita | Rounder |
Molly Tuttle | Into the Wild | (same) | Nonesuch |
Greg Blake | Bluefield Mountain Wind | (single) | Turnberry |
Tommy Webb | Teardrop Inn | Heartland | Rural Rhythm |
Billy String | Seven Weeks in County | Highway Prayer | Rounder |
Nu Blu | Horse Thieves and Moonshiners | Where You’ve Been | Turnberry |
Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road | They Call It Bluegrass | Bill Monroe’s Ol Mandolin | Pinecastle |