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 10th, 2024
Artist | Song Title | Album Title | Record Label |
Daniel Grindstaff | Findland | Heroes and Friends | Bonfire |
Ralph Stanley | Rank Strangers | Classic Bluegrass | Rebel |
Flatt & Scruggs | Little Maggie | 1959-63 | Bear Family |
Po’ Ramblin’ Boys | East Bound and Down | (single) | |
Peter Rowan and Nashville BG Band | High Lonesome Sound | New Moon Rising | Sugar hill |
Becky Buller/Jim Lauderdale | Stone Must Be the Wall | (single) | Dark Shadow |
Daniel Grindstaff | Forever Young | (single) | Bonfire |
IIIrd Tyme Out | Heading East to WV | (single) | |
Special Consensus | Alberta Bound | Great Blue North | Compass |
Balsam Range | Snake Charmer | Kinetic Tone | Mountain Home |
Larry Cordle/Trisha Yearwood | Lonesome Dove | All Star Duets | Larry Cordle |
Junior Sisk | Long Hard Road | (single) | Mountain Fever |
Molly Tuttle | El Dorado | City of Gold | Nonesuch |
Po Ramblin Boys/Jim Lauderdale | Long and Lonesome Letting Go | (same) | Sky Crunch |
Williamson Branch | Kentucky Highway | (single) | |
Seldom Scene | Reasons to Believe | (single) | Down the Road |
Sideline | Lives of the Innocent | (single) | Mountain Home |
Osborne Brothers | Bluegrass Express | Once More | Sugar Hill |
Sister Sadie | Willow | (single) | Mountain Home |
Olivia Jo | Mighty Mississippi | (single) | |
Caroline Owens | Build Me an Ark | (single) | Skyline |
Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road | Carolina Pig Pickin’ Time | A Little Bit of Bluegrass | Pinecastle |
Becky Buller/Jim Lauderdale | Wall Around Your Heart | (single) | Dark Shadow |
Unspoken Tradition | Weary Town | (single) | Mountain Home |
Lou Reid | Mom’s Old Picture Book | When it Rains | Sugar Hill |
Billy Strings | Way Downtown | Me & Dad | Rounder |
Missy Armstrong | Crickets | (single) | Miller & Melton |
Benson | Lay ‘Em Down | (single) | Mountain Home |
Starlette & Big John | Makin’ Tracks to Macon | Living in the Sough | Rebel |
New Vintage | Gravestone | No Time for the Blues | Pinecastle |
New Found Road | Lonesome River | Live at the Down Home | Rounder |
Ronnie Bowman | Rye Whiskey | Starting Over | Sugar Hill |
Po’ Ramblin’ Boys/Jim Lauderdale | Long and Lonesome Letting Go | Long and Lonesome Letting Go | Sky Crunch |
Country Gentlemen | Secret of the Waterfall | Award Winning Country Gentlemen | Rebel |
Bronwyn Keith-Hynes | Can’t Live Without Love | (single) | Sugar Petunia |
Tony Rice | Shadows | Tony Rice Sings Gordon Lightfoot | Rounder |
Joe Mullins | Black & White | Let Time Ride | Billy Blue |
Nu-Blu | The Will | (single) | Turnberrry |
Edgar Loudermilk | My Picasso | (single) | Pinecastle |
Rarely Herd | Simon Crutchfield’s Grave | Midnight Loneliness | |
Sturgill Simpson | Life Ain’t Fair | Cuttin’ Grass | High Top Mtn. |
Nixon Blevins & Gage | Blues, Stay Away From Me | Picking On Doc | Clover |
Irene Kelley | Bluegrass Radio | Benny’s TV Repair | IRK |