This issue of the Scene marks the last with my friends and colleagues Steve Cavendish and Laura Hutson in our staff box. Last week, Scene parent company SouthComm announced cuts to its Nashville publications’ editorial, sales and creative staffs, along with its corporate staff. Steve and Laura were among the layoffs.
Steve took over in the role of editor after the death of his predecessor, my boss and mentor Jim Ridley, in 2016. He’s been with SouthComm since 2011, serving as editor of Nashville’s late City Paper, news editor of the Scene and editor of Washington City Paper. He’s as good a food writer as he is a reporter. He knows as much about soccer as he does about whiskey and barbecue, and he knows even more about news. Steve conducts himself with integrity and warmth. He’s an excellent boss, and an even better friend.
Laura also started with SouthComm in 2011, serving as arts editor and helming the paper’s biggest section, the Critics’ Picks, for the better part of a decade. She knows the city’s visual arts scene like no one else, and she’s long brought an essential degree of critical credibility and legitimacy to our coverage. She understands the relationship between art and artist like no one else I know, and she still somehow manages to conduct herself without pretension. Laura is a wonderful friend and a hilarious weirdo.
Beginning this week, I’ll be taking over in the role of editor. I’ve been with the Scene in one capacity or another since 2008, when I started writing freelance concert reviews for The Spin. But as a Nashville-area native, I’ve been reading the paper since long before that. I’ve gotten every opportunity I’ve had with the Scene — as music listings editor, calendar editor, music editor, managing editor and now, if you can believe it, editor — because someone took a chance on me. Whether it was Jim Ridley or Steve Cavendish or Tracy Moore or Steve Haruch or Jack Silverman, there’s always been someone here who was willing to give me a shot. I won’t soon forget that.
It goes without saying that the world of print journalism has undergone — and continues to undergo — a great deal of change. It is our distinct pleasure and honor to serve this city, bringing our readers thoughtful, analytical coverage of local arts, news, film and music, as we have done for nearly three decades. We at the Scene are heartbroken that Steve and Laura will no longer be a part of our full-time staff, but we continue to take the responsibility of covering Nashville seriously.
The Scene is in my blood. As long as I’m here, we’ll keep writing stories about Nashville. We’ll keep covering arts and news and music because that’s what we do. We’ll keep doing it because of the examples set by Jim Ridley and Steve Cavendish.
We thank you for reading, and we thank you for your continued support.
D. Patrick Rodgers
Editor, Nashville Scene
