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: July 23rd, 2023
Artist | Song Title | Album Title | Record Label |
Adam Steffey | Big Mon | Mandolin Artistry 1 | |
Flatt & Scruggs | Wabash Canonball | On Foggy Mountain | County |
Bluegrass Album Band | Someone Took My Place With You | Sweet Sunny South | Rounder |
Earnie Thacker | Little Piece of Land | Chill of Lonesome | |
Mike Mitchell | Love of the Mountains | Fathers and Sons | Turnberry |
Michael Cleveland | Sunny Days | Lovin’ of the Game | Compass |
Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road | A Little Bit of Bluegrass | (same) | Pinecastle |
Earls of Leicester | Some Old Day | Earls of Leicester | Rounder |
Larry Sparks | Mama’s Apron Strings | It’s Just Me | Rebel |
Peter Rowan | High Lonesome Sound | New Moon Rising | Sugar Hill |
Nixon, Blevins & Gage | Just a Bowl of Butterbeans | Picking With Friends | Clover |
3 Fox Drive | Some Old Sideroad | Listen to the Music | |
Starlette & Big John | Straight 58 | Living in the South | Rebel |
Aaron McDaris | Be Good To My Little Baby Girl | First Time Around | |
Doyle Lawson | Julie Ann | Once and For Always | Sugar Hill |
Larry Cordle | East KY Blues | (single) | Mighty Cord |
Charlie Sizemore | Allison’s Band | Heartache Looking for a Home | |
Don Schlitz | Bad Decisions | High on a Mountain Top | |
Ashby Frank | Where I’m Bound | Leaving is Believing | Mountain Home |
Starlette & Big John | Makin’ Tracks to Macon | Living in the South | Rebel |
Don Rigsby | Golden Fields of Burley | Hillbilly Heartaches | Rebel |
Jason Carter | King of the Hill | Lowdown Hoedown | Fiddle Man |
Blue Highway | Lonesome State of Mind | (single) | Rounder |
Diamond Creek | 40 Years of Trouble | Where Do I Go From Here | New Time |
Joe Mullins | Black and White | Let Time Ride | Billy Blue |
Del McCoury | Blackjack County Chains | 50 Years | McCoury |
Roxboro Connection | That’s the Sound of a Broken Heart | Making the Connection | |
Kody Norris | Mountain Rosalie | Rhinestone Revival | Rebel |
Doyle Lawson | Living Like There’s No Tomorrow | Live in Prague | |
Daren Nicholson | Like My Dog | Things Left Undone | CD Baby |
Michael Cleveland | For Your Love | Lovin’ of the Game | Compass |
Grass Cats | Copperhead Road | 9 Lives and More | New Time |
Allison Brown/Steve Martin | Foggy Morning Breaking | On Banjo | Compass |
Terry Baucom | Here in the Country | (same) | Driving Duke |
Special Consensus | Alberta Bound | Great Blue North | Compass |
Danny Paisley | What Crosses Your Mind | (single) | Pinecastle |
Billy Strings | John Deere Tractor | Me and Dad | Rounder |
Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road | Carolina Pig Pickin’ Time | A Little Bit of Bluegrass | Pinecastle |
Patty Loveless | You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive | Mountain Soul | |
Dave Adkins | I Can Only Imagine | Right or Wrong | Mountain Fever |
Jonathan Byrd | Chicken Wire | Cackalack | |
Chatham County Line | Carolinian | IV | Yep Roc |