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: July 20th, 2025
Artist | Song Title | Album Title | Record Label |
Krisen Scott Benson, Gena Britt, Alison Brown | Ralph’s Banjo Special | ||
Ralph Stanley | All I Ever Loved Was You | Ralph Stanley & Clinch Mtn. Boys | |
Flatt & Scruggs | Wabash Cannonball | On Foggy Mountain | |
Earnie Thacker | Little Piece of Land | The Chill of Lonesome | Pinecastle |
Michael Cleveland/Jason Carter | Outrun the Rain | Carter & Cleveland | Fiddle Man |
Emmy Lou Harris | Walls of Time | Live at Ryman Auditorium | |
Eric Strickland | Black & White | Black & White & Blue | |
Virginia Ramblers | Daddy’s Grave | The Virginia Ramblers | |
Amanda Cook | Last Road Going Home | Restless Soul | Mountain Fever |
Alison Kruas | Granite Mills | Arcadia | Down the Road |
King James Boys | Ready & Waitin’ | Get a Transfer | |
Dale Anne Bradley | Jackson, TN | (single) | Pinecastle |
Grass Cats | More Pretty Girls Than One | Desperate Times | New Time |
Joe Mullins | The Good Ole Days | Lovin’ Fightin’ Losin’ Sleep | Billy Blue |
Greg Blake | Bluefield Mountain Wind | (single) | Turnberry |
Tony Rice Unit | Sally Goodin | Unit of Measure | Rounder |
Ricky Skaggs | Halfway Home Café | History of the Future | Skaggs |
Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road | Truegrass | Truegrass Again | Pinecastle |
Bob Miner/Rhonda Vincent | Listening to the Rain | (single) | Billy Blue |
Sideline | Thunder Dan | Front and Center | Mountain Home |
IIIrd Tyme Out | John & Mary | Bluegrassed | Cracker Barrel |
Becky Buller | Reach | (single) | Dark Shadow |
Daniel Grindstaff | Angel Dream | (single) | |
Williamson Branch | Southern Nights | (single) | Pinecastle |
Ashleigh Graham | Who We Were Back Then | ||
Russell Johnson | Old Moonshiner | Anytime “Anyplace But Only You | New Time |
Tennessee Bluegrass Band | Nolichucky | (single) | |
Rex Williams | Rose in Paradis | Live at Fountain General Store | |
Becky Buller | Ride on By | (single) | Dark Shadow |
Don Rigsby | Big Train | Kentucky Troubadour | Rebel |
Russell Johnson/Barney Rogers | Heading South to North Carolina | When the Bands Played | New Time |
Jerry Salley | What Love Looks Like Today | The Songwriter | Very Jerry |
Grascals | Coal Dust Kisses | (single) | Mountain Home |
Nu Blu | Time, Still on Your Side | Where You’ve Been | Turnberry |
Lonesome Standard Time | Highway 40 Blues | Lonesome Standard Time | |
Alison Krause | North Side Gal | Arcasia | Down the Road |
Lonesome River Band | Crime I Didn’t Do | Talking to Myself | |
Junior Sisk | Sweeter Than Tupelo Honey | (single) | Turnberry |
Nixon, Blevins & Gage | Ballad of the Rebel Soldier | Pick Another One | Clover |
Linda Barker | Slow Healing Heart | I Could Cry | Mastershield |
Larry Stephenson | The Blues Don’t Care Who’s Got ‘Em | What Really Matters | Pinecastle |
Tennessee Bluegrass Gand | Red Dirt, White House, Blue Ridge Mtn. Home | (single) | |
Vickie Vaughn | Leavin’ | (single) | Mountain Home |