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: February 26th, 2023
Artist | Song Title | Album Title | Record Label |
Alan Mullen | Shenandoah Breakdown | Heartwood Sessions | Alan Mullen |
Flatt & Scrugg | Wabash Cannonball | On Foggy Mountain | County |
Larry Sparks | Love of the Mountains | Classic Bluegrass | Rebel |
Ashby Frank | Make Your Mama Proud | Leaving is Believing | Mountain Home |
Lonesome River Band | Hey Day | Hey Day | Mountain Home |
Grass Cats | 85 on 85 | The Old School Road | New Time |
Appalachian Road Show | Blue Ridge Mountain Baby | Jubilation | Billy Blue |
Apple & Setser | Grandma Danced to the AK Traveler | Apple & Setser | |
Darin & Brooke Aldridge | Grand Ole Circle | This Life We’re Living | Billy Blue |
Hayde Bluegrass Orchestra | When You Say Nothing at All | Live | Mountain Home |
Pam Gadd | Bluegrass Survival | (single) | Home Sweet Hgy. |
Sam Bush | Radio John | Radio John | Smithsonian |
Tennessee Bluegrass Band | I’m Warming Up to an Old Flame | The Future of the Past | Billy Blue |
Peter Rowan | The Song That Made Hank Williams Dance | Calling You From My Mountain | Rebel |
Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road | A Little Bit of Bluegrass | (same) | Pinecastle |
Karen Smedley | No Known Cure | (same) | Karen Smedley |
Molly Tuttle | Dooley’s Farm | Crooked Tree | Nonesuch |
Interview with Joe Mullins | |||
Joe Mullins | Big City | (single) | Billy Blue |
Joe Mullins | I’ve Been Down That Road | (single) | Billy Blue |
Joe Mullins | Readin’, Rightin’ & Route 23 | Industrial Strength Bluegrass | Smithsonian |
Mike Mitchell | Makin’ Hay | (single) | Turnberry |
Cockman Family | 3 O’Clock Prayer | Dedicated | Cockman Family |
Billy Strings | Red Daisey | Renewal | Rounder |
Tony Rice | Cold on the Shoulder | (same) | Rounder |
Balsam Range | Moon Over Memphis | (same) | Mountain Home |
Terry Baucom | Here in the Country | (same) | Driving Duke |
Alilson Kraus | Lucky One | New Favorites | Rounder |
Irene Kelley/Kruger Brothers | Come Some Winter Morning | Snow White Memories | IRK |
Alecia Nugent | Paper and Pen | Alecia Nugent | Rounder |
Larry Cordle | East Ky Blues | (single) | Mighty Cord |
Adam Steffey/Alison Kraus | Warm KY Sunshine | One More for the Road | Organic |
Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road | Homesick for the Blue Ridge | A Little Bit of Bluegrass | Pinecastle |
3 Fox Drive | This Little House of Mine | Listen to the Music | |
Grascals | Me & John & Paul | Cream of the Crop | Rounder |
Garrett Newton Band | Country Poor & Country Proud | Young Man, Old Soul | Pinecastle |