Quotes:
"Bellizia's style of punkgrass is different... and different is good." Martin Atkins of Tour Smart, NIN, Pigface, and P.I.L.
(Bellizia) "…really hits me where I live, I loved it." DJ Cinnamon Kennedy 103.3 Asheville FM
"I was at the bar next door when I heard the music, so I wandered over to check it out. Super cool, I dig it!" Lyndsay Pruett of the Jon Stickley Trio
"Bellizia is to banjo music what Primus is to rock music." DJ Shaman Noodles
“I've never heard a banjo sound like that!” Someone at every single show
Bio:
Jhon Bellizia has been playing music, touring, and recording for most of his life, both as a solo artist and with several bands that vary stylistically from americana to reggae-rock and punk to prog-metal.
(Estrum, Arden Park Roots, Abandon Theory,
Between tours Jhon wrote and performed his own unique brand of punkgrass music and released his solo album under the name Sir Jhon in 2006.
The music is based on Jhon's individualized song writing and use of the electric banjo with sound effects. As a multi-instrumentalist Jhon brings an electric guitar feel to the banjo, creating a style somewhere between Scruggs and Hendrix.
Most common audience responses…
-“That's what it would sound like if you mixed Bela Fleck with Les Claypool.”
- “I’ve never heard a banjo sound like that!”
From 2021-23 Jhon fronted the power trio, Bellizia. They gigged regionally and were recognized in a full-page color write up in the Asheville Mountain Xpress.
The band was picking up steam like a run-away locomotive with festival offers, better show opportunities, and plans to record their debut album when the train jumped the tracks.
Jhon returned to performing as a solo act, and kept the Bellizia moniker in place of Sir Jhon.
Reviews of the Sir Jhon album:
-"An underground cult classic to behold!" Jason Rufus Sewell, Nebulost Productions
-“The Sir Jhon cd can best be described as a mixture of Danny Barnes, Naked City, and Johnny Dowd mixed in a blender, poured into a Petri dish and left out in the hot Texas sun for 12 weeks. What crawls out is most spectacular! 5 stars on this cd!” Jeff Brandon, music critic
-“…sometimes approximating experimental rock with touches of jazz and electronics, at other times sounding like a mildly deranged hoedown on the porch. Overall the tone is one of a whimsical gadfly, as apt to unleash peculiar instrumentals as tunes with goofy wordplay and cultural observations.” Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide