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: January 5th, 2024
Song Title | Album Title | Artist | Record Label |
Let It Ride | Hello City Limit | Hugh Moore | Folkways |
That’s What Makes the Bluegrass Blue | All the Way | Nu-Blu | Rural Rhythm |
Love Don’t Live Here Anymore | Almost Level | Roby Huffman | Tin Barn |
Bluegrass Man | Blues Are Back in town | Grass Cats | New Time |
The Sound of a Breaking Heart | Making the Connection | Roxboro Connection | |
Hello City Limit | Hello City Limit | Hugh Moore | Folkways |
A Good Way to Get the Blues | (same) | Grass Cats | New Time |
LA County | Sands of Time | New Vintage | Pinecastle |
The Old School Road | (same) | Grass Cats | New Time |
Thunder Dan | Front and Center | Sideline | Mountain Home |
The Mountains, My Baby and Me | (same) | Grass Cats | New Time |
That’s Kentucky | Lorraine Jorday & Carolina Road | Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road | Pinecastle |
Leaving Colorado | (single) | Sweet Potato Pie | |
A Light In the Window Again | Back to My Roots | Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road | Rural Rhythm |
Rock Me Grandpa | Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner | Swift Creek | Swift Creek |
Bill Monroe’s Ole Mandolin | (same) | Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road | Pinecastle |
Always Marry an Ugly Girl | Instrumentals & Insanities | Al Batten & Bluegrass Reunion | Al Batten |
True Grass Again | (same) | Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road | Pinecastle |
Just a Bowl of Butterbeans | Pickin’ With Friends | Nixon, Blevins & Gage | Clover |
A Little Bit of Bluegrass | (same) | Lorraine Jodan & Carolina Road | Pinecastle |
Wilie Roy | Highway 58 Bluegrass | Highway 58 Bluegrass | Highway 58 |
40 Years of Trouble | Chapel Hillbilly Way | Shady Grove Band | |
Rambling Man | The Kicking Grass Band | Kicking Grass Band | Superfan |
Country Poor and Country Proud | Young Man, Old Soul | Garrett Newton Band | Pinecastle |
Midnight Run | Experience This | Bluegrass Experience | Salisbury Street |
Shot Man Blues | Forever Yours | Hager Mountain Boys | |
Pickin’ With the Boys | (same) | Kathy Hinton Nixon | Turquois |
Southern Rail | Time Moves On | Grass Street | Grass Street |
More Than a Name on a Wall | One and Only | Damascus Ridge | |
A Rose for Marie | Evolving | Constant Change | Blue Circle |
Sledd Ridin’ | My Dixie Home | Jim Mills | Sugar Hill |
Singing as We Rise (written by Joe Newberry) | Help My Brother | Gibson Brothers | Rounder |
Bluegrass Unlimited 2024 Top Ten | |||
Hey Brother | God Fearing Heathen | 10. Dan Tyminski | 8 Track |
Forever Young | Heroes and Friends | 9. Daniel Grindstaff | Bonfire |
Can’t Live Without Love | I Built a World | 8. Bronwyn Keith -Hynes | Sugar Petunia |
Blues of the Night | The Winning Hand | 7. Lonesome River Band | Mountain Home |
Big Wheels | So Much for Forever | 6. Authentic Unlimited | Billy Blue |
Special Consensus | Great Blue North | 5. Alberta Bound | Compass |
Black and White | Let Time Ride | 4. Joe Mullins | Billy Blue |
Tony Trischka/Billy Strings | Earl Jam | 3. Browns Ferry Blues | Down the Road |
Jubilee | Jubilee | 2. Becky Buller | Dark Shadow |
Headin’ East to West Virginia | (single) | 1.IIIrd Tyme Out |