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: June 11th, 2023
Artist | Song Title | Album Title | Record Label |
Tony Rice Unit | The Gold Rush | Unit of Measure | Rounder |
Bluegrass Album Band | Big Spike Hammer | CA Connection | Rounder |
Balsam Range | Richest Man | Mettle & Moxie | Mountain Home |
Doyle Lawson | Julie Anne | Once & For Always | Sugar Hill |
Bill Monroe | Body & Soul | High Lonesome | Larry Cordle |
Tennessee Bluegrass Band | I’m Warming Up to an Old Flame | The Future of the Past | Billy Blue |
Becky Buller | Southern Flavor | ‘Tween Earth & Sky | Dark Shadow |
Sweet Potato Pie | Leaving Colorado | (single) | Sweet Potato Pie |
Billy Strings | John Deere Tractor | Me & Dad | Rounder |
Pam Gadd | Bluegrass Survivor | (single) | Home Sweet Hgy. |
Nu-Blu | Time Still on Your Side | (same) | Turnberry |
Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road | A Little Bit of Bluegrass | (same) | Pinecastle |
Mike Mitchell | Making Hay | Fathers & Sons | Turnberry |
Larry Sparks | Mama’s Apron Strings | It’s Just Me | Rebel |
Michael Cleveland/Dan Tyminski | Sunny Days | Lovin’ the Game | Compass |
Bearfoot | Love Choses You | Back Home | |
Authentic Unlimited | Hannah | Authentic Unlimited | Billy Blue |
Irene Kelley/Kruger Brothers | Come Some Winter Morning | Snow White Memories | IRK |
Rex Williams | Small Sothern Town | Live at R.A. Fountain General Store | Rex Williams |
Starlette & Big John | Makin’ Tracks to Macon | Living in the South | Rebel |
Tim Surette | When I Wake Up to Sleep No More | Mountain Home | Croosroads |
Grass Cats | 85 on 85 | 9 Lives & More | New Time |
Joe Mullins | I’ve Been Down That Road | Let Time Ride | Billy Blue |
Ashby Frank | Make Your Mama Proud | Leaving is Believing | Mountain Home |
Michael Cleveland | For Your Love | Lovin’ of the Game | Compass |
Alison Kraus | I Don’t Know Why | Every Time You Say Goodbye | Rounder |
IIIrd Tyme Out | Erase the Miles | Cream of the Crop | Rounder |
Doc Watson | Tennessee Stud | Will the Circle Be Unbroken | |
Alecia Nugent | Paper & Pen | Alecia Nugent | Rounder |
Jason Carter | King of the Hill | Lowdown Hoedown | Fiddle Man |
Casey Penn | We Go Together Like a Guitar & Fiddle | One Step Away | Mountain Fever |
Grasstowne | Gonna Rise & Shine | (same) | Pinecastle |
Al Batten | Heartbreak Mountain | Bluegrass Reunion Style | Al Batten |
Michael Cleveland/Billy Strings | For Your Love | Lovin’ of the Game | Compass |
Nu-Blu | That’s What Makes the Bluegrass Blue | All the Way | Rural Rhythm |
Danny Paisley | What Crosses Your Mind | (single) | Pinecastle |
Adam Steffey/Allison Kraus | Warm KY Sunshine | One More For the Road | Organic |
3 Fox Drive | This Little House of Mine | Listen to the Music | |
Laurie Lewis | Who Will Watch the Home Place | True Stories | |
Fireside Collective | Back to Caroline | Elements | Mountain Home |
Molly Tuttle | Crooked Tree | (same) | Nonesuch |
Doyle Lawson | She’s Walking Through My Memory | The News is Out | Sugar Hill |
Country Gentlemen | Legend of the Rebel Soldier | Award Winning Country Gentlemen | Rebel |