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 13th, 2025
Artist | Song Title | Album Title | Record Label |
Clyde Mattocks | Shanandoah Breakdown | Over My Shoulder | |
Flatt & Scruggs | Hot Corn, Cold Corn | 1959-1963 | Bear Family |
Tony Rice | John Hardy | Cold on the Shoulder | Rounder |
Ralph Stanley | Rank Strangers | Classic Bluegrass | Rebel |
Grass Cats | Bluegrass Man | 9 Lives and More | New Town |
Danny Paisley | Till Lonesome Comes Around | (single) | Pinecastle |
Kody Norris | Auctioneer | (single) | Rebel |
Daniel Grindstaff | Looking at the World Thru a Windshield | Heroes and Friends | Bonfire |
Sturgill Simpson | Life of Sin | Cuttin’ Grass | High Top Mtn. |
Woody Platt | Toe the Line | Far Away With You | Compass |
Alison Krauss | Looks Like the End of the Road | Arcadia | Rounder |
Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road | I Heard You Call His Name Last Night | Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road | Pinecastle |
Becky Buller | Ride on By | (single) | Dark Shadow |
Longview | Lonesome Old Home | Longview | Rounder |
Dan Tyminski | Whiskey Drinking Man | Live From the Ryman | 8 Track |
Billy String | Cabin Song | Highway Prayer | Rounder |
Unspoken Tradition | I’m In a Hurry | (single) | Mountain Home |
Becky Buller/Molly Tuttle/Sierra Hull | Reach | (single) | Dark Shadow |
Amanda Cooke | Last Road Going Home | (single) | Mountain Fever |
Sideline | I’m in Tennessee | (single) | Mountain Home |
Bluegrass Album Band | Age | Vol 4 | Rounder |
Darin & Brook Aldridge/Vince Gill | A Million Memories | Talk of the Town | Billy Blue |
Joe Mullins | Time Adds Up if You’re Lucky | (single) | Billy Blue |
Rhonda Vincent | Wagon Wheel | Destinations & Fun Places | Upper Mgmt. |
Cockman Family | 3 O’clock Prayer | Dedicated | Cockman |
Steel Drivers | If It Hadn’t A Been For Love | The Steel Drivers | Rounder |
Sturgill Simpson | I Don’t Mind | Cuttin’ Grass | High Top Mtn. |
Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road | Carolina Pig Pickin’ Time | A Little Bit of Bluegrass | Pinecastle |
Dale Ann Bradley | Jackson, TN | (single) | Pinecastle |
Tony Trischka | Brown’s Ferry Blues | Earl Jam | Down the Road |
Alison Brown/Steve Martin/Vince Gill | Wall Guitar | (single) | Compass |
Kruger Brothers | Streamlined Cannonball | Remembering Doc | |
Molly Tuttle | Into the Wild | (same) | Nonesuch |
Kicking Grass Band | That’s What I Like About the South | Walk With Me | |
Greg Blake | Bluefield Mountain Wind | (singles) | Turnberry |
Kathi Hinton Nixon | Pickin’ With the Boys | (same) | Turquoise |
Kristy Cox | Front Porch of Paradise | Let It Burn | Billy Blue |
Nashville Bluegrass Band | Blackbirds and the Crows | Unleashed | Sugar Hill |
Billy Strings | Leaning on a Traveling Song | Highway Prayer | Rounder |
Larry Cordle | Yardbird | Tales From East KY | |
Junior Sisk | Mountains Are Calling Me Home | (same) | Mountain Fever |
Kenna & Amanda Smith | A Million Lonely Days | (singles) | Farm Boy |
Nixon Blevins &Gage | Streets of Gold | Pick One For Me | Clover |