Larry Nixon is from Elkin, North Carolina in the heart of mountain and traditional music country, thirty miles south of Galax, Virginia, forty miles northeast of Deep Gap, home of Doc Watson, and twenty-five miles north of Union Grove, home of one of the oldest music and fiddler's convention in the country (and one of the first). When Larry was twelve, his grandfather gave him the banjo he had played around Surry County, North Carolina until 1929 when a finger injury ended his playing career. Since that time, Larry has been hooked on music, winning a talent show in the 8th grade. During his years in college, he played in “beach” music bands. Larry has enjoyed playing all types of music but has returned to his "roots" and first love, the re-creation and preservation of 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, NC.

Larry is one of the original directors of PineCone, the Piedmont Council of Traditional Music, and is one of the hosts of the PineCone Bluegrass Show, which is broadcast from Raleigh on WQDR 94.7 at 6:00PM on Sunday nights.