Yes, and the question itself reflects a misunderstanding of what Nashville is. Country music is the city’s origin story and its public identity. It is not the city’s complete content.
Nashville has more music venues per capita than any other city in the world, with over 250 music spaces according to Notes on Nashville’s research, 112 of which operate primarily as music venues. The overwhelming majority do not specialize in country music. Lonely Planet describes Nashville as having “rock, jazz, soul, hip hop, blues, indie and electronica all on tap,” with a live music infrastructure comparable to cities three times its size. The musicians who live and work here include Jack White, The Black Keys, Kings of Leon, and Paramore. None of these are country artists.
The Venues Are Not Country-Specific
The venues that matter for non-country listeners include:
The Basement East (“The Beast”) in East Nashville books indie, alternative, and punk rock with a local and touring lineup that has nothing to do with Broadway.
3rd and Lindsley has built its reputation on R&B, soul, blues, and jazz in an intimate setting.
Cannery Row (Cannery Ballroom, Mercy Lounge, and High Watt, three venues in one building) is consistently on the touring circuit for rock, indie, and alternative acts.
Exit/In is one of the city’s most important rock and indie venues. R.E.M., Emmylou Harris, and countless touring acts have played here.
Jack White’s Third Man Records (623 7th Ave S) is a recording studio, vinyl pressing plant, and performance space that operates as Nashville’s most interesting intimate venue. White has played here with multiple projects; the calendar runs toward indie, punk, Americana, and non-traditional country.
5 Spot in East Nashville hosts a Monday night Motown dance party that has been a neighborhood institution for years.
Station Inn is country-adjacent in that it books bluegrass, but bluegrass is not country music in any meaningful sense; it predates country and sounds nothing like it.
The Food Has No Genre
Nashville’s food scene has nothing to do with country music. The city has a James Beard-caliber restaurant scene concentrated in East Nashville, Germantown, and 12 South. Henrietta Red, City House, Locust, The Catbird Seat, and Bastion are not country music restaurants. Hot chicken is a food, not a music genre. Arnold’s Country Kitchen, The Pharmacy burger, and Rosepepper Cantina are similarly genre-neutral.
The Neighborhoods Are Explicitly Not Country
East Nashville, Germantown, Wedgewood-Houston, and 12 South draw their identities from creative professionals, artists, chefs, and musicians across genres. These are the neighborhoods where Jack White, the members of Paramore, and multiple non-country artists live. The bar scenes in these neighborhoods have nothing to do with Broadway.
What Non-Country Visitors Should Skip
Broadway itself is the only part of Nashville that is specifically country music-focused as an experience. Even there, the bars play a mix, and later in the night the bands shift toward rock and pop covers. You don’t have to avoid Broadway entirely, but a non-country visitor should spend less time there than the typical itinerary suggests.
The Ryman Auditorium’s history is country music history, but the building itself is worth visiting for its acoustics and architecture even if the genre doesn’t interest you. Multiple music fans who do not like country describe the Ryman tour as worthwhile purely as a piece of American cultural architecture. The Grand Ole Opry, by contrast, is specifically a country music format show and less compelling for non-fans.
The Practical Answer
A non-country music fan visiting Nashville who focuses on East Nashville, Germantown, 12 South, the city’s art museums (Frist Art Museum, the Parthenon’s art collection, the National Museum of African American Music), Cheekwood, the distillery trail, and the live music venues listed above will have a full and solid trip. The city has been described as a live musician capital, and its studio and performance infrastructure attracts the best players in every genre in the country. That is what Nashville actually is.
Sources:
- Lonely Planet, “10 Things to Do in Nashville If You Don’t Like Country Music” (January 2025): lonelyplanet.com/articles/nashville-if-you-dont-like-country-music
- Notes on Nashville, “Non-Country Music & Bars in Nashville” (October 2025): notesonnashville.com/live-music/not-country
- Trolley Tours Nashville, “Things to Do in Nashville For People Who Don’t Like Country Music”: trolleytours.com/nashville/nashville-non-country-music-fans
- My Travel BF, “Visiting Nashville for People Who Hate Country Music”: mytravelbf.com/visiting-nashville-for-people-who-hate-country-music
- Fodor’s Travel Nashville Guide, general reference: fodors.com/world/north-america/usa/tennessee/nashville