Mark Baumgarten

As dictated to the City Arts intern:

Executive editor Mark Baumgarten took the helm at City Arts last year following a decade of editing and writing stories about music and other arts for a long list of publications, including the late Sound Magazine, Willamette Week in Portland, Twin Cities Metropolitan and Lost Cause magazine, the ill-fated local-music publication he founded while working as a banquet captain at a Minneapolis hotel.

While his duties are mostly concentrated on editing the work of others, Baumgarten takes great pleasure in reporting and crafting stories about cultural trends that he has no business taking part in. For instance, after reporting a cover story on the dancers who call themselves “Jerks” last year, he insisted on “jerkin’” around the office, until his knees demanded he stop.

His favorite part of his job, though, is interviewing artists. Asked for a fond memory, Baumgarten wistfully recalls the time that Courtney Taylor-Taylor said, “I don't know why the fuck I'm talking to you.” He also recalls the time Damien Jurado threatened to punch him in the face (though, it should be noted, Jurado was going through nicotine withdrawl).

In addition to assigning and editing stories for the magazine, Baumgarten often feeds his ego by hosting events for City Arts, including the monthly Chamber vs. Chamber events at the Sorrento Hotel, where he leads a post-concert discussion between the artists and the audience, and the quarterly Song Show at the Triple Door, where he interviews some of the Northwest’s greatest musical talents in front of a live audience. See his handiwork here:

Baumgarten also enjoys basketball, chess and crooning along with his Bob Dylan records. His least favorite words are “unique” and “literally” and he’s been praised by the blogosphere for having “great hair.”

Follow Baumgarten on Twitter @MarkBaumgarten.