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: December 3rd, 2023
Artist | Song Title | Album Title | Record Label |
Alan Mullen | Shanandoah Breakdown | Heartwood Sessions | |
Ralph Stanley | Christmas Time’s A’Coming | Ralph Stanley Christmas | Rebel |
Grass Cats | Favorite Christmas Memories | Christmas in Carolina | Blue Circle |
Nixon, Blevins & Gage | What Child is This/God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen | Picking on Christmas | Clover |
Larry Sparks | Mama/s Apron Strings | It’s Just Me | Rebel |
Nu-Blu | Christmas in Dixie | Christmas in Carolina | Blue Circle |
Constant Change | Christmas Time Back Home | Christmas in Carolina | Blue Circle |
Patty Loveless | Santa Trailn | Blue Grass White Snow | |
Lonesome River Band | Lonesome State of Mind | (single) | Rounder |
Mike Mitchell | Love of the Mountains | Fathers and Sons | Turnberry |
Tommy Edwards | Christmas Letter | The Christmas Album | Salisbury Street |
Junior Sisk | Long Hard Road | (singles) | Mountain Fever |
Balsam Range | Snake Charmer | (single) | Mountain Home |
Dan Tyminski | Hey Brother | God Fearing Heathen | 8 Track |
Starlette & Big John | Making Tracks to Macon | Living in the South | Rebel |
Nixon, Blevins & Gage | Beautiful Star of Bethlehem | Christmas in Carolina | Blue Circle |
Nu-Blu | Martha & Mary | Nail by Nail | Rural Rhythm |
Lost & Found | Christmas in Virginia | (same) | Rebel |
Patty Loveless | Blue Grass White Snow | (same) | |
Kody Norris | I Call Her Sunshine | Rhinestone Revival | Rebel |
Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road | Just an Old Penny | A Little Bit of Bluegrass | Pinecastle |
Joe Mullins | Black & White | Let Time Ride | Billy Blue |
Tim & Mollie O’Brien | Christ Was Born in Bethlehem | Sugar Plums | Sugar Hill |
Authentic Unlimited | Fall in Tennessee | (single) | Billy Blue |
Al Batten | Christmas in Our Hometown | Christmas in Carolina | Blue Circle |
Sweet Potato Pie | Mary’s Kiss | Christmas in Carolina | Blue Circle |
Kicking Grass Band | Meaning of Christmas | Christmas in Carolina | Blue Circle |
Donna Ulisse | Where the Mountain Lillies Grow | (single) | Billy Blue |
Special Consensus | Alberta Bound | Great Blue North | Compass |
Darin & Brooke Aldridge | Breath of Heaven | Hometown Holiday | Mountain Home |
Daniel Grindstaff | Forever Young | (single) | Bonfire |
Lonesome River Band | Perfume , Powder & Lead | ||
Sweet Potato Pie | White Christmas | Home Grown Christmas | Sweet Potato |
Special Consensus | Snowbird | Great Blue North | Compass |
Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road | Homesick for the Mountains | A Little Bit of Bluegrass | Pinecastle |
Special Consensus | Go Tell it On the Mountain | Christmas in the Smokies | |
Sideline | Colors and Crossroads | (same) | Mountain Home |
James King | Echo Mountain | Bluegrass Storyteller | Rounder |
Lou Reid | When it Rains | (same) | |
Doyle Lawson | Christmas Medley | Sugar Plums | Sugar Hill |