Courtesy of TurboPro Project

From left: Ryan ''RnB'' Barber, Adrian ''Turbo'' Trbovic, Milton ''DJ Deacon'' Cockerham, and Kim France

At last year's FloydFest, lots of great sounds poured out of the beer garden. Some of the most intriguing came from a North Carolina band called Turbo Pro Project.

This was a band that answered the question: What happens when a banjo player who is into hip-hop joins forces with a backspin-happy DJ who has worked with Biggie Smalls and members of Wu-Tang Clan?

If you missed it, hear the answer for yourself this week, when Turbo Pro Project hits the valleys.

It started a couple of years back, when North Wilkesboro, N.C., banjo man Adrian "Turbo" Trbovich approached Burlington, N.C.'s Chris "DJ Pro" Prear about collaborating.

"DJ Pro has done a lot in the past in the hip-hop scene, so it's definitely a divergence from the hip-hop, but he has a really open mind," Trbovich said of Prear. "When I first approached him about the idea, he did not even bat an eyelash, so to speak."

Trbovich grew up in a musical family and is a classically trained pianist who caught the banjo bug early on. But he came of age as hip-hop was going worldwide, and he was fascinated.

"I was a child of the '80s, so hip-hop was just coming up, and it really spoke to me ... the DJ always captivated me," he said.

The band's mix also features Milton "DJ Deacon" Cockerham, a North Wilkesboro friend of Trbovich. Cockerham makes many of the band's beats, too, "so we're equally blessed to have him," Trbovich said.

Turbo Pro Project has recently added vocalist/keyboardist Ryan "RnB" Barber, and bassist Kim France is usually in the lineup. Others rotate in and out, depending on who is available when, Trbovich said.

"I always tell people that if a kazoo player came and can really play, we might consider that, if it fits into the overall theme. And just when it couldn't get any more bizarre, it always seems to. We don't try to do that. It just sort of follows suit, you know, [from] banjo and DJ."

Opening act at the Awful Arthur's Towers show is Rogue Motel, a Portland, Ore., act that describes itself as "mellow grit rock. ... Soaked in analog bourbon." Judging from listening to the band's MP3, the description is appropriate. The tunes "Fault," "Smoke and Vines" and "Hurry Up" are highlights at the band's MySpace page.

-- Tad Dickens