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: May 18th, 2025
Artist | Song Title | Album Title | Record Label |
John McUen | Togary Mountain | Will the Circle be Unbroken Vol 1 | |
Johnson Mountain Boys | Duncan & Brady | Blue Diamond | Rounder |
Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out | Take me home country roads | Bluegrassed | |
David Grindstaff | Looking at the world through a windshield | Heroes and Friends | |
Jerry Douglas | Shenandoah Breakdown | Slide Rule | Rounder |
The Grascals | Saro Jane | The Grascals | |
Larry Cordle | Yardbird | Tales from East Kentucky | |
Lonesome Standard Time | Lower on the hog | Lonesome Standard Time | Sugar Hill |
Larry Cordle | Call me the breeze | Lonesome Skynyrd Time | |
Ricky Skaggs | Halfway home café | History of the Future | Skaggs |
Tina Adair | 18 wheels and a dozen roses | Single | |
Alison Krauss & Union Station | Snow | Arcadia | |
Lonesome River Band | I won’t be calling for you | Talkin’ to Myself | Rebel |
Jason Carter/Michael Cleveland | Give it away | Single | |
Tim Surrett | When I wake up to sleep no more | Mountain Home | |
Jimmy Martin | Sunny Side of the Mountain | Bean Blossom | MCA |
McPeak Brothers | Livin’ with the shades pulled down | Classic Bluegrass | Rebel |
Seldom Scene | Rawhide | Cellar Door | Rebel |
Country Gentlemen | Matterhorn | 25 Years | Rebel |
Osborne Brothers | Rocky Top | High Lonesome | MCA |
Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out | Modern day Bonnie & Clyde | Bluegrassed | |
Old & In the Way | Midnight Moonlight | Old & In the Way | |
Rhonda Vincent | Muleskinner Blues | Ragin’ Live | Rounder |
Leftover Salmon/Del McCoury | Twisted Pine | Single | |
Leftover Salmon/Billy Strings | Nashville Skyline Rag | Single | |
The Grass Cats | Oh, Stephanie | The Blues are Back in Town | New Time |
Sturgill Simpson | Sea Stories | Cuttin’ Grass Vol 2 | |
Po’ Ramblin Boys | Wanderers like me | Single | |
Lost & Found | 14 Carat Mind | It’s about Time | |
Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road | Boogie Grass Band | Bill Monroe’s Ol Mandolin | Pinecastle |
Molly Tuttle | Into the Wild | Into the Wild | |
Al Batten & the Bluegrass Reunion | Heartbreak Mountain | Bluegrass Reunion Style | |
Little Roy Lewis | Washed in the Blood | Gospel Banjo | |
Alison Krauss & Union Station | Man of Constant Sorrow | Live | Rounder |
Blue Highway | Still climbing Mountains | Still climbing Mountains | Rounder |
Dave Adkins | Put some grass in it | Nothing to Lose | |
Harley Allen/Mike Lilly | Suzanne | Allen/Lilly Band | |
Harley Allen/Mike Lilly | I don’t believe you’ve met my baby | Allen/Lilly Band | |
Wilson Banjo Co. | If you don’t climb the mountain | If you don’t climb the mountain | |
Volume Five | Thorn Tree Shade | Run | |
Nixon, Blevins & Gage | Doc’s Guitar | Pickin’ on Doc | Clover |
J.D. Crowe & the New South | Sally Goodin’ | J.D. Crowe & the New South | Rounder |
Tony Rice | Why you been gone so long | Night Fever | Rounder |
Tony Rice | Girl from the North Country | Sings and plays Bluegrass | Rounder |
Seldom Scene | Mean Mother Blues | 20th Anniversary Concert | Sugar Hill |
New Grass Revival | This heart of mine | Fly through the country | |
The Wells Family | Someday Soon | ||
Nashville Bluegrass Band | Blue Train | Choice Picks | |
The Grascals | Feeling Blue | Keep on Walkin’ | |
Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out | Brown County Red | It’s about Tyme |