Jon Bailey isn’t ashamed to admit that he still gets nervous onstage, with or without his band Belmondo. There’s a bit more at stake for

him, besides simply performing his songs well.

“I can’t avoid writing about my own personal experiences,” said Bailey. “One of my newer songs is about when my dad died, which never really bothered me my whole life until I came to college, and watched parents help their kids move into the dorms. It triggered a reaction that ended up becoming a song. I am not really super-confident with my music, but when everyone puts in their part, it’s absolutely amazing. It’s really hard to get up and play songs like that, but it’s very satisfying in the end. The collaborative effort gets me through.”

That deeply personal, introspective streak runs through all of Bailey’s music, with or without Belmondo, the band he has performed with for the past two years. They play at 8 tonight at Soma 36 in Orono, an all-ages local show with Some Damned English City, Cold Water Armies and Ryan Quigley.

Despite his young age (19), Bailey has been a singer, songwriter and guitarist for nearly five years, cutting his teeth playing with his best friend, viola player Evan James, 21. Bailey and James would sit on the benches on Mill Street in Orono while both were still students at the nearby high school and serenade passers-by.

“We’ve been partners in crime since I’ve been playing music,” said Bailey. “He’s classically trained, but he still has a really creative rock element to him. He finds the perfect piece to add to things. He can listen to something for a few minutes and immediately get it.”

Bailey and James hooked up with bassist Cullen Gallagher in 2004 after Gallagher took a year off from film school at New York University and returned home to Orono. A night spent watching Jean-Paul Belmondo movies gave them a name – a chance performance at the University of Maine gave them the rest of the band members.

“Sarah Richardson and Drew Hooke were in the audience,” said Bailey. “She has a beautiful, beautiful voice and I asked her if she’d come join us at a practice. She ended up joining the band to sing harmonies. Drew, he came right up to us after the show and said ‘Hi, I’m a drummer, and I could add a lot to your sound.’ We were all, who is this guy? But he’s such a great drummer.”

Though the band went on semi-permanent hiatus when Gallagher returned to New York in the fall, Belmondo will reunite for the show tonight and whenever possible at other times.

Meanwhile, Bailey keeps busy performing solo at open mic nights in the area. Solo or with James, he has a boyish charisma and a deceptively powerful voice, one that he usually keeps at a medium-soft volume so he can enunciate clearly. With the full band, however, he projects quite a bit more and engages his voice with Richardson’s clear, distinctive soprano. It’s both delicate and passionate – harmonies and strings and acoustic guitar, mixed with a high-octane rock drumming, thanks to Hooke.

As stated above, Bailey writes extremely personal songs, so for lack of a better term, you could almost call Belmondo “emo.” But certainly not in the typical sense – Bailey cites Elliott Smith, indie songwriter John Vanderslice and Death Cab for Cutie as major influences.

“I really identify with the stuff that’s almost painfully honest,” said Bailey. “And it’s lovely if people can identify with anything I write, but in the end I guess my music is for me.”

Belmondo plays at 8 tonight, with Some Damned English City, Cold Water Armies and Ryan Quigley at Soma 36 in Orono. There is a $7 cover charge. For information, visit www.myspace.com/belmondo. Emily Burnham can be reached at eburnham@bangordailynews.net.

Supporting acts:

. The Kave in Bucksport offers a rare midwinter show at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 5 (tonight) featuring nationally known hardcore band Unearth, along with Since the Flood, Screams of Erida, the Miles Between and Let ‘Em Loose. Tickets are $15 and are available at Bull Moose Music. For information, visit www.myspace.com/thekave.

. The Strand Theatre in Rockland offers Trekkapalooza, the second annual fundraiser for the Trekkers, a non-profit outdoor learning organization for young people in the Rockland-Thomaston area. The show starts at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 6, and features local bands Cambiata, Rocksmythe, Manila Reign, Waiting on Ian, Nickname for Richard, Matching Thermos and the Rhythm Riders. Tickets are $10 at the door. For information, visit www.trekkersonline.org.