Grassanova Information

‘Grassanova’ may be the new band on the block, but its members have years of experience playing bluegrass and other forms of acoustic music.  ‘Tom & Marie’ have joined forces with R. J. Siegers and Jim MacWilliams to form an exciting and dynamic new acoustic sound in New York’s Southern Tier.  ‘Grassanova’ plays solid traditional bluegrass as well as popular songs done in a bluegrass/newgrass style, and they’ll throw in a few other musical styles such as swing, blues, and early jazz just for fun.  Be sure to check out our MySpace site, at http://myspace.com/grassanova, where you can find recordings, our schedule, and other information about the band and its members.  Drop us a line at our e-mail address at grassanova@yahoo.com, or at Tom’s e-mail address at gemini704@juno.com.  We hope to hear from you.

RJ Siegers learned to play 5-string banjo from his father.  Originally native to Washington state, Siegers has performed throughout Colorado, Wyoming and Montana as well as New York state and Ontario.  He has also performed in Scandinavia and Ireland.  Siegers listens to ragtime and early jazz, along with traditional, bluegrass and pop music, which has created his "Americana" approach to the banjo.  He also has written many compositions for the banjo including Golden Gate, Belmar Stomp, and Icebreaker.

Jim MacWilliams grew up playing music with his brothers in the green hills of West Point, N.Y. An accomplished fingerstyle guitarist, Jim also plays the clawhammer banjo and mandolin, and loves the sound of old-time fiddle tunes. Jim has twice won first place at Winfield’s Walnut Valley Festival songwriters’ competition, in the instrumental and love songs categories, and his composition “Hilo Farewell” has been used by finalists in the National Fingerstyle Guitar competition. Jim is known for his versatility as a musician and is much sought-after as a backup guitarist.

Marie Shaver is a relative newcomer to the music scene, but already she has built up quite a bit of stage experience playing the acoustic bass guitar.  Marie is part of the duet ‘Tom & Marie’, which can be found performing at various coffeehouses and other venues across the Southern Tier of New York.  She was also a member of the bluegrass band ‘Square Deal’, as well as the folk/bluegrass ensemble called the ‘Susquehanna River Basin Band’.  Marie’s bass playing provides a solid foundation for ‘Grassanova’.

Tom Quigley moved to the Binghamton, NY area in 1988 after living in Indiana for four years playing in both bluegrass bands as well as classic rock bands.  Tom did much the same in the 1990’s playing keyboards for the rock band ‘Split Level’, and mandolin for the bluegrass band ‘Stateline’.  In this century he’s played guitar and mandolin for the bluegrass band ‘Square Deal’ as well as the folk/bluegrass band “Susquehanna River Basin Band, and also now performs in the duet ‘Tom & Marie’.  Tom has also played for contra dances in bands such as ‘Wild Rose (and the Thorns)’, ‘String Band Central’, and ‘Brackney String Band’.