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 25th, 2025
Artist | Song Title | Album Title | Record Label |
Ben Green | Military Medley | United We Stand | Pinecastle |
Flatt & Scruggs | Let the Church Roll On | 1959-63 | Bear Family |
Bluegrass Album Band | Lonesome Wind Blues | Volume 4 | Rounder |
Blue Highway | Through the Window of a Train | (same) | Rounder |
Michael Cleveland/Jason Carter | Outrun the Rain | Carter & Cleveland | Fiddle Man |
Kody Norris | Auctioneer | (single) | Rebel |
Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road | Another Soldier | United We Stand | Pinecastle |
Larry Sparks | Scarlet Red Line | It’s Just Me | Rebel |
Amanda Cook | Last Road Going Home | Restless Soul | Mountain Fever |
Woody Platt | Toe the Line | Far Away With You | Compass |
Grascals | Me & John & Paul | Bluegrass Number Ones | Rounder |
Dale Anne Bradley | Jackson , TN | (single) | Pinecastle |
Grass Cats | Home to Carolina | (same) | New Time |
Chris Jones | Hero in Harlan | ||
Damascus Ridge | More Than a Name On a Wall | One and Only | Damascus Ridge |
Daughters of Bluegrass | Women in Uniform | United We Stand | Pinecastle |
Darin & Brooke Aldridge/Vince Gill | A Million Memories | Talk of the Town | Billy Blue |
Balsam Range | Trains I Missed | (same) | Mountain Home |
Cockman Family | Patriot Medley | All About Love | Cockman |
Sideline | I’m in Tennessee | (single) | Mountain Home |
Alison Brown/Steve Martin | 5 Days Out2 Days Back | (single) | Compass |
Becky Buller | Reach | (single) | Dark Shadow |
Osborne Brothers | Kentucky | Once More | Sugar Hill |
Danny Paisley | Till Lonesome Comes Around | (single) | Pinecastle |
Rarely Herd | Last Time | Midnight Loneliness | |
Gary Ferguson | Last Day at Gettysburg | I’m Really Leaving | |
Molly Tuttle | Into the Wild | (same) | Nonesuch |
Barney Rogers/Russell Johnson | When the Bands Played | (same) | New Time |
Alision Kraus | Looks Like the End of the Road | Arcadia | Down the Road |
Grascals | Cold Dust Kisses | (single) | Mountain Home |
Bradley Walker | Last Day at Vicksburg | God Don’t Chose Favorites | |
Billy Strings | Leaning on a Traveling Song | Highway Prayers | Reprise |
Osborne Brothers | Shiloh Hille | When the Rose Bloom in Dixieland | |
Dave Evans | Soldiers Return | Best of VETCO | |
David Grindstaff | Either Way I’m Going Home | Here and Now | |
Cockman Family | 3 O’Clock Prayer | Dedicated | Cockman |
Nixon, Blevins & Gage | Legend of the Rebel Soldier | Pick Another One Son | Clover |
Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road | Mama’s Cross | A Little Bit of Bluegrass | Pinecastle |