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 22nd, 2023
Artist | Song Title | Album Title | Record Label |
Flatt & Scruggs | Sally Ann | Foggy Mountain Banjo | County |
Bill Monroe | Sitting Alone in the Moonlight | In the Pines | MCA |
Ralph Stanley | Lonesome & Blue | Classic Bluegrass | Rebel |
Po’ Ramblin’ Boys | East Bound and Down | (single) | Smithsonian |
Lonesome River Band | Mary Ann is a Pistol | Hey Day | Mountain Home |
Authentic Unlimited | Before You Miss Me | Authentic Unlimited | Billy Blue |
Big Country | Bluefield WV Blues | Country Lovin’ | Rebel |
Joe Mullins | I’ve Been Down That Road | (single) | Bill Blue |
Pam Gadd | Bluegrass Survival | (single) | Home Sweet Hgy. |
Billy Strings | Dig a Little Deeper | Me and Dad | Rounder |
Lonesome River Band | Hey Day | Hey Day | Mountain Home |
Authentic Unlimited | Hannah | Authentic Unlimited | Billy Blue |
IIIrd Tyme Out | Raining in LA | Cream of the Crop | Rounder |
Bluegrass Album Band | On My Way Back to the Old Home | Volume 1 | Rounder |
Lynn Morris Band | Black Pony | Lynn Morris Band | Rounder |
Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road | A Little Bit of Bluegrass | (single) | Pinecastle |
Al Batten | She’s My Sweet Blue Eyed Darling | Bluegrass, Reunion Style | Al Batten |
Old Crow Medicine Show | Reasons to Run | Paint This Town | ATO |
Donna Ulisse | Living Large in a Little Town | Living Large | Billy Blue |
Sturgill Simpson | All Around You | Cuttin’ Grass | High Top Mtn |
Grass Cats | Copperhead Road | 9 Lives and More | New Time |
Nu-Blu | Martha and Mary | Nail by Nail | Rural Rhythm |
Sideline | Thunder Dan | Front & Center | Mountain Home |
Terry Baucom | Here in the Country | Here in the Country | Driving Duke |
Gena Britt | A Little Bit of You | (single) | Melton & Miller |
Lou Reid | Blue Night | Carolina Blue | Sugar Hill |
Jason Barie | That’s Why You Left Me so Blue | (single) | Billy Blue |
Alan Jackson | Appalachian Mountain Girl | The Bluegrass Album | Universal |
Garrett Newton Band | Country Poor, Country Proud | Young Man, Old Soul | Pinecastle |
Irene Kelley | Come Some Winter Morning | Snow White Memories | IRK |
Alison Kraus | Blue and Lonesome | Down From the Mountain | Lost Highway |
Joe Mullins | Big City | (single) | Billy Blue |
Ashby Frank | Make Your Mama Proud | (single) | Mountain Home |
Frank Solivan | I’m Already Gone | Hold On | Compass |
Del McCoury | Rain and Snow | Celebrating 50 Years | McCoury |
Larry Cordle | East KY Blues | (single) | Mighty Cord |
Doyle Lawson | Carolina in the Pines | Once and For Always/News is Out | Sugar Hill |
Volume Five | Losing My Religion | (single) | Mountain Home |
Emmy Lou Harris | Walls of Time | At the Ryman | Reprise |
Nixon, Blevins & Gage | Just a Bowl of Butterbeans | Picking with Friends | Clover |
Bluegrass Album Band | Lonesome Wind Blues | Volume 4 | Rounder |
New Tradition | Prodigal Son | Stand and Be Counted | Crossroads |
Rarely Herd | Last Time | Midnight Loneliness | Rarely Herd |
Tractor for Sale | Mickey Harris | Things I Like | MKR |
Billy Strings | John Deere Tractor | Me and Dad | Rounder |