Entry No. 51 — the Portland file — filed under: ritual-music
The Muddy Rudder Public House
Jimmer Sheehan bought the corner at SE 7th and Tacoma in 2004 and opened this pub in 2007, filling it with his own cabinetry, nautical salvage and antiques; he died in 2022 and the room still runs on his taste. Two standing weekly bookings anchor it — Lloyd Jones, a Portland roots-blues veteran with a Cascade Blues Association Muddy Award for his VizzTone album Tennessee Run, plays every Monday at 8, and a full bluegrass night takes Thursday at 8. Neither costs anything, and the room is small enough that there is no bad angle and no real stage separation. The kitchen does pizzas on Bob's Red Mill flour, house meatballs, and a wild smoked-salmon sandwich called the Sitka. Its one trap: the kitchen shuts at 9 Sunday through Wednesday, an hour into the Monday set.
→ Three more underground music & performance in Portland — never the same twice
The story
James "Jimmer" Robert Sheehan Jr. bought the corner of SE 7th and Tacoma in 2004 and opened the Muddy Rudder there in 2007. He'd spent about fourteen years in the Alaska fishing industry before that, working up from forklift operator to ship's engineer, and by his family's account could build, wire, plumb, fix and refurbish just about anything — which is why the pub is largely his own handiwork. The cabinetry, the custom woodwork and even the wooden pizza stands came out of his hands; the nautical salvage, vintage motorcycles and antiques came out of his taste. He died on June 26, 2022, and the room still runs on his choices.
It's a small pub of several connected rooms plus a patio, billing itself as Sellwood's friendliest, and the kitchen is not an afterthought. Pizzas are built on Bob's Red Mill organic flour and whole-milk mozzarella, running personal through large and stromboli at roughly $12.25 to $30.50, with pies named Mucca Lenta, Elk Rock and Nunzeo. The house makes its own meatballs, which show up on the Nunzeo and on a Sellwood sandwich with spicy marinara and provolone. The signature is the Sitka: $19, smoked salmon with fresh mozzarella, cucumber, onion, tomato, romaine and yogurt-dill dressing, toasted, with soup or salad.
Two standing weekly bookings do the rest. Lloyd Jones plays Mondays at 8 — a Portland roots-blues lifer with thirty-plus years and seven albums behind him, from The Lloyd Jones Struggle on Criminal in 1987 to Tennessee Run on VizzTone in 2020, inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame in 2007, holder of multiple Cascade Blues Association Muddy Awards, endorsed by Robert Cray and a regular on Delbert McClinton's Sandy Beaches cruises. Thursdays at 8 belong to bluegrass. Neither costs anything, there's no stage separation worth the name, and the pub's one structural trap is that the kitchen closes at 9 Sunday through Wednesday — an hour into Monday's set.
What it's like
There's no door, no list and no ticket. You walk into a pub that's been open since 11:30am and discover that at 8 o'clock a band starts playing in it. That's the whole mechanism, and it means seats are the scarce thing. Come at 7:15 or 7:30 on a residency night, order while the kitchen is still open — happy hour is 4 to 6 daily, well drinks and house wine $6.50, food from $8.50 — and take a table near wherever the players are setting up, because there's no bad angle here, only bad timing. Once the set starts the room quiets more than a pub normally would; this is a listening crowd rather than background music, and talking over the Monday blues set will get you looked at. Since nobody took your money at the door, the tip jar is the ticket. Put in what the show was worth.
The move: Walk in around 7:15 on a Monday, order the Sitka smoked-salmon sandwich and a pint while the kitchen is still open, take the two seats closest to where Lloyd Jones sets up, and stay through the 8 o'clock set — it costs nothing but the sandwich, so put the ticket money into the tip jar and finish the night walking down to Oaks Bottom.
📍 Before you go Open daily 11:30 am–11 pm; kitchen closes 9 pm Sun–Wed and 10 pm Thu–Sat, so eat before the 8 pm downbeat. Music is free with no tickets and no door list — the trade is that the room fills, so arrive by 7:30 for seats near the players. Happy hour runs 4–6 every day. Free street parking in Sellwood, though the blocks nearest SE 7th and Tacoma go fast on residency nights; verify the week's lineup on the music-schedule page before you go, since it is a standing booking rather than a contract.
- 📍 Portland
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Big night
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 8105 SE 7th Ave, Portland, OR 97202
Hours: Added 2026-08-26 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- The Raven's Wing Magical Co-Op — An employee-owned witch co-op about a third of a mile away on SE 13th doing daily walk-in readings — get read at 6, get fed at 7, hear the blues at 8, all within Sellwood.
- Bible Club — An unmarked Prohibition-era speakeasy under a mile north on SE 16th: after a free show in a bright, chatty pub that closes at 11, a room with no sign and a pressed-tin ceiling is the correct second act.
- Otto's Sausage Kitchen — A century-old butcher on SE Woodstock that grills sausages on the sidewalk and closes at 5, so it's the afternoon half of the same day rather than a competitor for dinner.
More weird in Portland
Good to know
Is there a cover?
No. Both weekly music nights — Lloyd Jones on Mondays at 8, bluegrass on Thursdays at 8 — are free, with no tickets and no door list. The tip jar is the entire economy of the evening, so treat it as the ticket price you didn't pay.
When does the kitchen close?
9pm Sunday through Wednesday and 10pm Thursday through Saturday, while the pub itself runs 11:30am to 11pm daily. On Mondays that means the kitchen shuts an hour into the blues set — order before the downbeat, not during the break.
Is the lineup guaranteed?
It's a standing weekly booking, not a contract. Check the music-schedule page on muddyrudderpdx.com the week you're going rather than assuming, and don't build a trip from out of town around a single night.
Where do I park?
Free street parking in Sellwood, but the blocks closest to SE 7th and Tacoma fill early on residency nights. Budget an extra couple of blocks and walk in — you'll want to arrive by 7:30 for seats anyway.
What do I order if I only order one thing?
The Sitka, the $19 smoked-salmon sandwich with fresh mozzarella and yogurt-dill dressing, which comes with soup or salad. If you'd rather have pizza, it's on Bob's Red Mill organic flour and the house meatballs are worth the Nunzeo.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · lloydjonesmusic.com
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last checked: 2026-08-26