Don't let Mayer Hawthorne's “;music nerd”; look fool you. The man has skills to pay the bills.

The Michigan native's enthusiastic urban soul sound has made him an act on the uptick, thanks to his well-received debut album, “;A Strange Arrangement,”; released on the reputable hip-hop indie label Stones Throw Records.

Honolulu will be able to check out this rising star with his backup band the County at Pipeline Cafe on Wednesday.

Hawthorne's career path came by accident.

“;I've been a hip-hop DJ and producer for the past 10 years, so this is definitely my first foray into soul,”; he said by phone a couple of weeks ago from Los Angeles.

The 30-something musician moved to the West Coast four years ago from Ann Arbor with his hip-hop crew, Athletic Mic League, performing under the monicker of DJ Haircut. But it was a couple of homemade demos so authentic in their retro sound that grabbed the ears of label owner Chris Manek (better known as Peanut Butter Wolf) that unexpectedly switched up things for Hawthorne.

“;Wolf said that he didn't want his label to put out just hip-hop, so that's why he was interested in my soul demos. Those songs, 'Just Ain't Gonna Work Out' and 'When I Say Goodbye,' got me signed to Stones Throw and were put on a 12-inch, heart-shaped single.

“;We didn't know how big it was going to be, since this only started as a side project of mine's.”;

Hawthorne's subsequent album was a solo effort—it's all his vocals and most of the instrumentation. “;Just Ain't Gonna Work Out”; has falsetto vocals and a sound smack dab between doo-wop and soul. “;Your Easy Lovin' Ain't Pleasin' Nothin'”; is an affectionate shout-out to the Supremes' Motown hit “;You Can't Hurry Love,”; and “;Maybe So, Maybe No”; has a classic sound, complete with horns.

“;It's a cover of an old-school Detroit 45 by a group called the New Holidays,”; he said. “;It's hard to top, since the original is so amazingly good, but I thought the song never got the shine it deserved. I think my take came out well enough.”;

HAWTHORNE HAS BEEN in his soul-man guise for only a year, but his overall musicality cannot be disputed.

“;I played in all kinds of bands in high school and college back in Michigan, including funk and punk rock bands. I come from a very musical family, so I was real lucky with that. Around then I just took to whatever music my parents were feeding me. That drove me to buy records and start collecting, which led to DJing.

“;The move to L.A. was meant for me and the crew to do hip-hop music full time, but after all of this happening, I've had to readjust my career plans. Soul music's my life now. This whole year I'm booked solid tour-wise.”;

The man already has some well-established fans supporting him, like Justin Timberlake, Mark Ronson and John Mayer, who chose Hawthorne to open for his New Year's Eve concert in Las Vegas.

If there has been a flaw in Hawthorne's music, it has been his voice, and even there he's been getting some help.

“;I have been focusing on the singing, since it's still kind of new to me,”; he said, “;so, just recently, I've had a couple of lessons from John's vocal coach. It's the first kind of vocal training I've ever had. When I was recording the album, it was the singing that was always messing me up. I found out what I was doing was counterintuitive to singing, and my natural instinct of doing it was the wrong way. But I'm trying to become a better singer and musician.

“;I think I'm pretty polished now, and I'm comfortable doing this. I hope people who come see my show will feel that.”;

Hawthorne's next recording project will be an EP of covers, ones that he and the band already play during their sets. “;We've been doing 'Work to Do,' by the Isley Brothers, and ELO's 'Mr. Blue Sky.' We even used to do M.I.A.'s 'Paper Planes.' There may be even more different ones by the time we play Hawaii.”;