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 7th, 2024
Artist | Song Title | Album Title | Record Label |
Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs | Cumberland Gap | Foggy Mountain Banjos | Sony |
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver | Misery River | The Original Band | Sugar Hill |
J.D. Crowe & the New South | East Virginia Blues | Holiday in Japan | |
Country Gazette | Saro Jane | Hello Operator | |
Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs | Bugle Call Rag | Foggy Mountain Banjo | Sony |
Vince Gill | Two Baby Blue Eyes | Industrial Strength Bluegrass | |
Virginia Squires | Tall Dark Stranger | ||
Seldom Scene | Gardens and Memories | 20th Anniversary Celebration | Sugar Hill |
Williamson Branch | Kentucky Highway | Single | |
Bill Monroe/Jim & Jesse | Mighty Dark to Travel | Bluegrass 87 | MCA |
Alison Krauss & Union Station | Wild Bill Jones | Down from the Mountains | Rounder |
Billy Strings | Stone Walls and Steel Bars | Me and Dad | |
Tom Adams | Little Maggie | Right Hand Man | Rounder |
Bluegrass Album Band | Rock Hearts | Sweet Sunny Sought | Rounder |
Jim & Jesse | Ols-Slew foot | Bean Blossom | MCA |
Darin & Brooke Aldridge | Jordan | Single | |
Daniel Grindstaff | Forever Young | Single | |
Larry Sparks | Momma’s Apron Strings | Almost Home | Rebel |
Clyde Mattocks | Hugging the Hound | Hugging the Hound | |
Sturgill Simpson | Sitting here without you | Cuttin’ Grass Vol 1 | |
Sturgill Simpson | Life ain’t fair and the world is mean | Cuttin’ Grass Vol 1 | |
Volume Five | Thorn Tree Shade | Run | |
Volume Five | I am a Drifter | Drifter | |
Molly Tuttle | Crooked Tree | Crooked Tree | |
Molly Tuttle | Side Saddle | Crooked Tree | |
Larry Cordle/Glenn Duncan & Lonesome Standard Time | You Can’t Take It With You When You Go | Larry Cordle/Glenn Duncan & Lonesome Standard Time | Sugar Hill |
Larry Cordle | A Visit with an Uncle | Took Down and Put Up | |
Tony Rice | Wayfaring Stranger | Cold on the Shoulder | Rounder |
Tony Rice | Mr. Engineer | Tony Rice | Rounder |
Carl Jackson & John Starling | Lonesome Dove | Spring Training | Sugar Hill |
Carl Jackson & John Starling | I’m Not Over You | Spring Training | Sugar Hill |
Country Gentlemen | Get In Line Buddy | The Award-Winning Country Gentlemen | |
Country Gentlemen | Matterhorn | 25 Years | Rebel |
Alecia Nugent | Too Good to Be True | A Little Girl, a Big Four Lane | Rounder |
Alan Munde | Hot Burrito Breakdown | Festival Favorites-Revisited | |
Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road | A Little Bit of Bluegrass | A Little Bit of Bluegrass | Pinecastle |
The Grass Cats | The Mountains My Baby and Me | The Mountains My Baby and Me | New Time |
Traditional Grass | Back to Hancock County | The Blues Are Still the Blues | |
Nixon, Blevins & Gage | Brown Mountain Lights | Picking with Friends | Clover |
Pam Gadd | Bluegrass Survival | Single | |
New Grass Revival | This Old Heart of Mine | Fly Through the Country | |
Nashville Bluegrass Band | Blue Train | Choice Picks | |
Newfound Road | That’s How I Got to Memphis | Live at Down Home | |
Old & in the Way | Knockin’ on Your Door | Old & In the Way | |
Rhonda Vincent & the Rage | Precious Jewel | All-American Girl | Rounder |
James King | Crazy Heart | Lonesome and Then Some | Rounder |
Jason Carter | Highway 52 | Lowdown Hoedown | |
Lonesome River Band | Cabin of Love | Carrying the Tradition | Rebel |
Lost & Found | Love of the Mountains | Classic Bluegrass | Rebel |
Marty Rabon | Home Run Man | Full Circle |