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: August 3rd, 2025
Artist | Song Title | Album Title | Record Label |
Jim Mills | Bear Tracks | Bound to Ride | Sugar Hill |
Flatt & Scruggs | Let the Church Roll On | At Carnegie Hall | County |
Tony Rice | Cold on the Shoulder | (same) | Rounder |
James King | Bed By the Window | (same) | Rounder |
Irene Kelley | Bluegrass Radio | Benny’s TV Repair | |
IIIrd Tyme Out | Erase the Miles | Cream of the Crop | Rounder |
Darin & Brooke Aldridge | Tennessee Flattop Box | Snapshots | |
Steve Martin, Alison Brown | 5 Days Out, 2 Days Back | (single) | Compass |
Amanda Cook | Last Road Going Home | Restless Soul | Mountain Fever |
Alison Kraus | Granite Mills | Arcadia | Down the Road |
Country Gentlemen | Little Bessie | 25 Years | Rebel |
Dale Anne Bradley | Jackson, TN | (single) | Pinecastle |
Grass Cats | Home to Carolina | (same) | New Time |
Joe Mullins | The Good Ole Days | Lovin’ Fightin’ Losin’ Sleep | Billy Blue |
Greg Blake | Bluefield Mountain Wind | (single) | Turnberry |
Billy Strings | Leanin’ on a Travelin’ Song | Highway Prayer | Reprise |
Claire Lynch | Out Among the Stars | Silver & Gold | |
Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road | A Little Bit of Bluegrass | (same) | Pinecastle |
Bob Miner/Rhonda Vincent | Listening to the Rain | (single) | Billy Blue |
Sideline | Thunder Dan | Front and Center | Mountain Home |
Red Camel Collective | Daughter of the Stars | Red Camel Collective | Pinecastle |
Becky Buller | Reach | (single) | Dark Shadow |
Daniel Grindstaff | Angel Dream | (single) | Bonfire |
Williamson Branch | Southern Nights | (single) | Pinecastle |
Church Sisters | Bury Me Beneath the Willow | There’s You | |
Charlie Sizemore | No Lawyers in Heaven | Heartache Looking for a Home | |
Carrie Hassler | She’s a Stranger in His Mind | CHHR2 | Rural Rhythm |
Caroline Owens | You’ve Still Got It | (single) | Billy Blue |
Becky Buller | Ride on By | (single) | Dark Shadow |
Greg Blake | Nora McNally | (single) | Turnberry |
Larry Cordle | Yardbird | Tales From East KY | |
Jerry Salley | What Love Looks Like Today | The Songwriter | Very Jerry |
Larry Cordle | Lost as a Ball in High Weeds | Songs From the Workbench | Might Cord |
Nu Blu | The Will | Where You’ve Been | Turnberry |
Vickie Vaughn | Leavin’ | (single) | Mountain Home |
Longview | Lonesome Old Home | Longview | Rounder |
Seldon Scene | Old Train | (same) | Rebel |
Junior Sisk | Sweeter Than Tupelo Honey | (single) | Turnberry |
Cuttin’ Grass | Love of Bluegrass Music | Cuttin’ Grass Vol 1 | |
Roxboro Connection | That’s the Sound of a Breakin’ Heart | Making the Connection | |
Po’ Ramblin’ Boys | Eastbound and Down | (single) | Smithsonian |