"Bellizia is to banjo music what Primus is to rock music." DJ Shaman Noodles
A short story….
Jhon Bellizia is a multi-instrumentalist and worked as a “hired gun” in the music world, contributing on recordings and tours for several bands.
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.
When Covid shutdown the world, he decided to pursue an exciting concept that had been simmering on the back burner for years. He would build a prog/punk inspired power trio, fronted by the electric banjo to perform his music.
He soon found Timothy Todd Cook, a metal drummer with extensive touring and recording experience. The duo began working out Sir Jhon’s catalog of songs as well as creating new material together.
The search for a bassist took longer and several candidates were vetted before finding Jayson S. Tomlin. Jayson was a great bassist that also brought vocal harmonies and a prog rock feel to the project.
The band was set, all that was left was to agree upon a name. Many ideas were tossed around but nothing resonated. Tim suggested Bellizia, as it possessed a worldly ring and ambiguous meaning.
Bellizia was agreed upon, and the band was off and running like a locomotive picking up steam. The trio gigged regionally in North and South Carolina for a year, were featured in the Asheville Mountain Xpress, and were planning to record their debut album when the train jumped the tracks.
Differences in personal priorities laid across the tracks like a bundle of TNT in a Bugs Bunny cartoon, and blew the short lived band to pieces.
The stoics say “the obstacle is the way” and just like pivoting when COVID shut down the music industry, Jhon embraced the return to performing as a soloist, with ideas for an exciting new direction in the future.
The name Bellizia came to represent the growth and evolution of Sir Jhon, which is why he chose to keep the name.