6 • The Southwest Portland Post
FEATURES
September 2014
Garden Home’s Matt Miner is keeping the music live with small concerts
By KC Cowan
The Southwest Portland Post
Portland is known for having an
outstanding music scene, with jazz to
rock and everything in between. But
when you no longer want to hassle with
the crowds at the Rose Garden, or risk
your hearing with mega-loud concerts,
you start looking around for something
different.
You just may find it at O’Connor’s
Vault, a small music venue in the for-
mer Multnomah Bank and next door
to O’Connor’s Restaurant and Bar in
Multnomah Village.
The man behind the music is Garden
Home resident Matt Miner, a former
television producer who has always
had love for a good song.
About 10 years ago, he heard a story
on National Public Radio about people
doing “house concerts,” where profes-
sional musicians performed in a private
home setting.
“And then I happened to run into
(musician) Richard Moore. And said,
would you be willing to try this thing
out?”
The answer was yes, and Moore
brought in jazz singer Mary Katterly to
round out the show. Miner sold tickets,
and his wife, Sasha Kaplan, decided
to cook a buffet for the guests. They
charged $12.50 a head.
“And from that one, we did 50 of
those in six and a half years, to at the
end we were charging upwards of $30
to $35 per person and seating 40 to 45
people for the show,” Miner said.
But the toll of hosting all those people
and moving his furniture for each show
made Miner start looking around for a
venue outside his home. O’Connor’s
looked like a good fit, and Miner said
owner Steve Arel immediately jumped
on board.
“The management and staff are re-
ally supportive. Steve actually kicks in
money to the till, and he runs the door.
He’s very supportive, whether it looks
like it will be a moneymaker or not. He
lets me do what I want to do here.”
And what Miner wants to do is cre-
ate as intimate a music experience as
he did in his own home. That’s why
O’Connor’s works so well. There are
no distractions like a bunch of rowdy
bar patrons in the background. The en-
vironment lets you focus on the music.
“It’s not about the scene, it’s about the
music,” says Miner.
Mostly what you’ll find at these
concerts are acoustic performances in
(Continued on Page 5)
Matt Miner stands outside O'Connor's
Vault in Multnomah Village where he
regularly schedules intimate music events.
(Post photo by KC Cowan)
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