Night view of Lower Broadway in Nashville in April 2018. Photo: Getty Images.

I am, as of publication, in Nashville for a work conference. Not a music-writing conference, but for my other area of journalistic focus.

When I think of Nashville, I think of country music, drunken bachelorette parties and hot chicken. And while I absolutely love hot chicken, the other two aren’t really my jam; any drunken party is utterly miserable and, while I love old-school country, modern Nashville pop-country is as bland and formulaic as modern pop-anything else.

That said, I’m not the type to write off any city without at least looking for things I like and Nashville is no different, so I started looking for Nashville bands and Nashville-native musicians who I do enjoy. And it taught me one important thing: Wikipedia considers a musician to be “from Nashville” if they moved to Nashville at any point in their life. San Diego native Dave Mustaine? Moved to Nashville after being washed up; from Nashville. New Orleans native Aaron Neville? Moved to Nashville after Hurricane Katrina; from Nashville. The unspeakably British Peter Frampton and Ed Sheeran? Both from Nashville for some reason.

Because of that, my qualifications are a little stretched, but here are five more-or-less non-country musicians and bands that are more or less from Nashville.

For a more straightforward look at the Nashville music scene, culture and history, read editor Roman Gokhman’s look at the city in this story he wrote just about one year ago, “A tour of Nashville with Camaron Ochs, two years after the tornado.” This ain’t that.

Robert Knight — “Everlasting Love”

Here’s the one and only song on the list that completely, inarguably meets every qualification, by which I mean that Robert Knight is from Nashville (well, a suburb thereof, but the Nashville metro area) and that I like this song. Success! I mean, there are four more, but I’m taking the W.

I don’t actually know any of his other songs, however. I can’t really say if he as an artist is good or bad. But I do really love this song, and he was born and raised in the Nashville area, so here you go. Enjoy this moment because this is where I start cheating.

Pat Boone — “Long Tall Sally”

Like I said, everything on this list is a stretch. Boone is pretty solidly from Nashville because he, while born in Jacksonville, Fla., was in fact raised here. That absolutely counts. Score another one for Wikipedia.

Where Pat Boone is a stretch is the part where I’m supposed to like the musicians I list. I do not like Pat Boone. He made his name in the ’50s and ’60s absolutely butchering great songs by Black musicians. Just absolutely mangling them beyond recognition. Pat Boone’s early career is less cultural appropriation than it is cultural attempted homicide.

Seriously, I challenge you to listen to his covers of Fats Domino, Ivory Joe Hunter, or worst of all, Little Richard, and you’ll join the 34 people that made Dilbert Guy so angry he burned down his career and say that it’s not OK to be white.

[Gokhman note: Willis included Boone (whom he says he doesn’t like) but, somehow, NOT Little Richard (whom he does)?! I’ve got a whole section about Little Richard living in Nashville in my story. Read it!]

[Willis response: Little Richard is from Macon and only moved to Nashville to work, which I specifically said doesn’t count as being from Nashville. Keep up!]

The Everly Brothers — “Wake Up Little Susie”

The actual Everly brothers, Don and Phil, were born in Kentucky and Chicago, respectively, and spent most of their childhood in Iowa. They did move to Tennessee for high school and the brothers moved to Nashville when they were 18 and 16, so I’m counting it.

I will argue to no end that the Everly Brothers’ hits aren’t country music. [Gokhman note: Is anyone arguing that they are?] They’re extremely old-school, first-generation rock and roll. There may not have been a solid classification of the genre at the time but, with hindsight being 20-20, that’s exactly what it is. Despite that, they’re in the Country Music Hall of Fame [Gokhman note: I guess so!] because apparently they’ll stretch their definition to include pretty much anyone. It’s the “People from Tennessee” Wikipedia page of Halls of Fame.

The Dead Weather — “Hang You From the Heavens”

OK, stay with me here: Jack White is from Detroit. His first couple bands, The White Stripes and The Raconteurs, were also started in Detroit. He since moved to Nashville and opened up his increasingly world-famous record store [Gokhman note: Again, read my story!] here, even if it’s the second location after the one in, yes, Detroit.

The Dead Weather, though, was founded in Nashville! It’s true! None of the members are from here but the band itself was born in and is based here. So, you know what? Sure. That’s good enough. Even if I don’t like this band as much as the others, it’s the one that counts and it’s not bad, so I’m using it and you can’t stop me.

Miley Cyrus featuring Elton John, Yo Yo Ma, etc. — “Nothing Else Matters”

Screw it, why not. Last one is Miley Cyrus doing Metallica. She very reasonably moved to California, but she was born here and she seems cool now, and her “Black Mirror” episode was fantastic.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go have hot chicken in a honky-tonk while trying to avoid getting vomited on by a bride-to-be and her 35 closest friends.

Follow publisher Daniel J. Willis and tweet column ideas to him at Twitter.com/BayAreaData.