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: February 4th, 2024
Artist | Song Title | Album Title | Record Label |
Adam Steffey | Big Mon | Mandolin Artistry Vol. I | |
Flatt & Scruggs | Salty Dog Blues | Bear Family 1959-1963 | Bear Family |
Ralph Stanley | Kaey Daly | Bound to Ride | Rebel |
Joe Mullins | Black & White | Let It Ride | Billy Blue |
Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road | That’s Kentucky | Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road | Pinecastle |
Grass Cats | The Mountains My Baby & Me | (same) | New Time |
Daniel Grindstaff | Forever Young | (single) | Bonfire |
Balsam Range | Snake Charmer | Kinetic Tone | Mountain Home |
Special Consensus | Alberta Bound | Great Blue North | Compass |
Terry Baucom | Here in the Country | (same) | |
Carolina Owens | Heartbreak Train | (same) | Skyline |
Authentic Unlimited | Fall in Tennessee | (single) | Billy Blue |
Rambler’s Choice | Shotgun Slade | Rambler’s Choice | Rebel |
Dan Tyminski | Hey Brother, | God Fearing Heathen | |
Nu-Blu | The Will | (single) | Turnberry |
Lonesome River Band | Blues of the Night | (single) | Mountain Home |
Special Consensus | Snowbird | Blue North | Compass |
Lou Reid | First Step to Heaven | When It Rains | Sugar Hill |
Old and In the Way | Panama Red | Old and In the Way | |
Mike Mitchell | Love of the Mountains | Fathers and Sons | Turnberry |
Sturgill Simpson | Breakers Roar | Cuttin’ Grass | High Top Mtn. |
Molly Tuttle | El Dorado | City of Gold | Nonesuch |
Sister Sadie | Willow | (single) | Mountain Home |
Alison Kraus | I Will | Now that I’ve Found You | Rounder |
Seldom Scene | Reasons to Believe | (singles) | Down the Road |
Kicking Grass Band | Molly | Live at the Carolina Theater | |
Tennessee Bluegrass Band | Coming Down the Line | (single) | Billy Blue |
Rhonda Vincent | City of New Orleans | (single) | Upper Mgmt, |
Starlette & Big John | Makin’ Tracks to Macon | Living in the Sough | Rebel |
Sweet Potato Pie | Rose Garden | Once in a Blue Moon | |
Chris Jones | Pages in Your Hand | (same) | Mountain Home |
Kody Norris | I Call Her Sunshine | Rhinestone Revival | Rebel |
Donna Ulisse | Where the Mountain Lillies Grow | (single) | Billy Blue |
Sturgill Simpson | Tennessee | Cuttin’ Grass | High Top Mtn. |
Junior Sisk | Long Hard Road | (single) | Mountain Fever |
IIIrd Tyme Out | Heading East to WV | (single) | |
Rogers & Johnson | Heading South to NC | When the Bands Played | New Time |
Sideline | Their Hands Made the Music | (same) | Mountain Home |
Seldom Scene | Rider | Live at the Cellar Door | Rebel |
Billy Strings | Way Downtown | Me & Dad | Rounder |
Hayde Bluegrass Band | Going Back to Harlan | Migrants | Hayde |
Doyle Lawson | Carolina in the Pines | Once and For Always | Sugar Hill |
Seldom Scene | Reasons to Believe | (single) | Down the Road |
Larry Sparks | John Deer Tractor | Classic Bluegrass | Rebel |
IIIrd Tyme Out | John & Mary | (same) | |
Becky Buller/Jim Lauderdale | Wall Around Your Heart | (single) | Dark Shadow |
Alan Bibey | Gonna Rise and Shine | Gonna Rise and Shine |