Nashville electronic rockers Cherub play the Ryman

Back in 2012, things were looking up for Nashville musicians Jason Huber and Jordan Kelley when they showed up at the Cannery Ballroom to play one of their first big concerts in Music City. Then the show’s production crew saw what they brought with them. And they weren’t happy.

“They were like, ‘What are you doing, showing up here with those?’” Kelley recalls.

They were holding guitars.

Unlike the DJs and other electronic music acts on the bill that night, Huber and Kelley — who perform as Cherub — play instruments and sing, while also controlling electronic beats and backing tracks. The result is a show that’s part rock concert, part rave.

“It was kind of what we felt that people were ready for,” Huber says. “Going out to a show and getting to enjoy a party at the same time.”

As it turns out, some people weren’t ready. For a while, if Cherub wasn’t ruffling feathers by playing guitars, they were instead getting flack for not having enough live instrumentation in their show. When they opened for funk-rockers Sound Tribe Sector 9, some of that band’s fans thought the two of them were “just dancing around up there,” Huber says. Either way, they couldn’t win.

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“It was frustrating,” Kelley adds. “But what it really did, throughout these last couple of years, is pave a fanbase truly of our own, I feel. They're so dedicated to buying tickets and sharing the music and telling their friends.”

Three years later, Cherub has definitely carved out a niche. They’ve released an album on Columbia Records (2014’s “Year of the Caprese”), racked up millions of YouTube views for their viral hit “Doses & Mimosas” and have made a splash at festivals from Bonnaroo to Japan’s Summer Sonic.

On Saturday they’ll play their biggest hometown show to date when they headline Ryman Auditorium. The occasion has inspired Huber and Kelley to finally pull the trigger on something they’ve wanted to do for years. They’re going to have a band.

Starting with the Ryman concert, Cherub will now be touring with a live drummer and additional guitarist.

“We’ve always had big plans,” Huber says. “Even this is not the final incarnation of what we want the live band to be. We want to have tons of musicians on the stage, swapping around and doing all sorts of different things. But this is what makes sense for us right now.”

He notes that they’re at the point in their career where another band might start to spruce up their show with backing tracks and other electronic elements. “We've started out from that other end of the spectrum and worked almost backwards.”

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In fact it seems all but impossible to pry a guitar or microphone from these two, who met in 2006 while enrolled in the Recording Industry program at Middle Tennessee State University. During their trip to Japan last month, they holed up for hours in a karaoke bar — until Huber chipped a tooth on a microphone while attempting a high kick. Luckily, that came after a huge gig for the band at Bonnaroo’s “Superjam” in June, where he sang “Walk This Way” with Darryl McDaniels of Run DMC.

They even have a costumed alter-ego group, known as “Snicklefritz,” that allows them to play last-minute gigs.

“When it's fun for us, and we want to play for the sake of just playing,” Huber says. “That, and it was a great excuse for us to wear some sweet wigs."

Cherub performs Saturday at Ryman Auditorium. The show starts at 8 p.m., and tickets are $25.