Photo: Michael W. BunchThe Nashville Scene named Steve Cavendish as its new editor today. He succeeds Jim Ridley, who passed away suddenly in April. Formerly the editor of Nashville City Paper and news editor of the Scene, Cavendish is currently editor of the Washington City Paper in Washington, D.C.

“I’m enormously grateful for the opportunity to lead the Scene,” Cavendish says. “Jim Ridley was a great editor and a world-class human being. I was lucky enough to call him my friend. His vision for the Scene — powerful storytelling, the best arts coverage in town, taking a critical eye to everything Nashville — is one that I share. Getting to execute that with a staff for whom I have a great deal of affection is a real honor.”

"Steve knows Nashville, our edit team and the mission of the Scene like no one else," says SouthComm CEO Chris Ferrell. "I was reluctant to pull him out of D.C. after just a year, but we were all convinced he was the right person for this key leadership role at this time."

Cavendish, 46, grew up in the Nashville area and graduated from Belmont University before joining the staff of the Nashville Banner in 1993. He held a number of design, writing and management jobs at papers from the Washington Post to the Chicago Tribune before returning to Nashville in 2011 to edit the Nashville City Paper. He left the Scene staff last year to become editor of the Washington City Paper.