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: April 2nd, 2023
Artist | Song Title | Album Title | Record Label |
Darren Nicholson | Rawhide | Fret a Spell | |
Jimmy Martin | Goodbye Old Pal | Jimmy Martini’s Greatest Bluegrass Hits | |
Longview | Hills and Home | Lessons in Stone | Rounder |
David Parmely | All Dressed Up | Single | |
James Alan Shelton | These Old Blues | Blue in the Blue Ridge | |
Ralph Stanley | Little Maggie | Classic Bluegrass | Rebel |
Jason Carter | Highway 52 | Lowdown Hoedown | |
Doc Watson | Tennessee Stud | Will the Circle be Unbroken | |
Steve Bruce | By the Brook | By the Brook | |
Sideline | Thunder Dan | Front and Center | |
Seldom Scene | California Cotton fields | Live at the Cellar Door | Rebel |
Bill Emerson | Love Reunited | Southern | |
Deer Creek Boys | Kristine | What Goes Up | |
Gibson Brothers | Singing as We Rise | Help My Brother | |
The Grascals | Haggard | Single | |
Alan Bibey & Grasstowne | Old Hen | 4 | |
Alison Krausse & Union Station | Don’t Follow Me | Too Late to Cry | Rounder |
Ashby Frank | Midnight Highway | Leaving Is Believing | |
J.D. Crowe & the New South | Sally Goodin’ | J.D. Crowe & the New South | Rounder |
J.D. Crowe & the New South | You Can Have Her | J.D. Crowe & the New South | Rounder |
Jim & Jesse | Are You Missing Me | 50 Years of Bluegrass Hits | |
Jim & Jesse | Flower in the Desert | Music Among Friends | Rounder |
Hammertowne | Next to Nothing | Next to Nothing | |
Hammertowne | I Can Tell By The Way You Dance | Pictures | |
Joe Mullins | Bacon in my Beans | For the Record | |
Joe Mullins | Readin’, Rightin’, Route 3 | ||
Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out | The Best Durn Ride | The Best Durn Ride | |
Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out | Modern Day Bonnie & Clyde | Bluegrassed | |
James King | Big House on the Corner | Bed by the Window | Rounder |
James King | The Devils Train | Three Chords and the Truth | Rounder |
Vince Gill | Two Baby Blue Eyes | Industrial Strength Bluegrass | |
Vince Gill | I’ll Take the Highway | Little Brother | |
Kenny Baker | Jerusalem Ridge | High Lonesome | MCA |
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver | Up on the Blueridge | News is Out | Sugar Hill |
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver | The Grass That I’m Playing | News is Out | Sugar Hill |
Jim Eanes | In his arms I’m not afraid | Tru-Bluegrass Gospel | |
Larry Sparks | She Thinks I Still Care | It’s Just Me | |
Larry Sparks | Momma’s Apron Strings | It’s Just Me | |
Merle Haggard | Holding Things Together | The Bluegrass Sessions | |
McPeak Brothers | Lost River | Classic Bluegrass | Rebel |
Matt Wallace | Got Leaving on Her Mind | For a Season | |
Lou Reid, Terry Baucom & Carolina | I’m Gonna Hold to His Hand | Carolina Moon | Rebel |
Lou Reid, Terry Baucom & Carolina | Cold Sheets of Rain | Carolina Moon | Rebel |
Lonesome River Band | Heyday | Heyday | |
Lonesome River Band | Mary Ann | Talking to Myself | |
Larry Cordle | A Visit with an Uncle | Took Down and Put Up | |
Larry Cordle | 67 Chevy Malibu | Took Down and Put Up | |
Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs | Before I Met You | Flatt & Scruggs | |
Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs | Cumberland Gap | Foggy Mountain Banjo | Sony |