Kinzel & Hyde Halibut's features best fish & live blues
By Steve Rodin
When David Mackay decided to open up a fish house on historic Alberta St. in the spring of 2005, he envisioned a place where locals could gather for a great meal in warm, friendly surroundings.
A few months after Mackay opened Halibut's, business was so good, he decided to expand with a lounge that featured his favorite artists in town. So Halibut's, at 2525 N.E. Alberta St., booked Portland's best blues artists; people like Lloyd Jones, Jon Koonce, Paul deLay, Terry Robb, Linda Hornbuckle, Curtis Salgado and Kinzel & Hyde.
Mackay has strived to make Halibut's a place everyone is happy to be. "If we don’t do this good, I'd have to do something else." Lucky for Portlanders, he does it much better than good.
Halibut's was a hit with the blues artists also. Days after deLay passed on, all of these artists and a few others, dropped by for an impromptu wake to honor deLay. Halibut's had become their favorite local venue and they all felt it was the appropriate place to honor the Portland legend. Mackay's love affair continues between owner and musicians today.
Halibut's features great fresh giant tiger prawns, Alaskan halibut and cod, Copper River salmon and Mississippi catfish, beer-battered and served in generous portions. They also have chicken tenderloins and Dungeness crab cakes. Mackay says it took him three months to develop the house chowder. He bugged neighbors daily to taste and advise him until he came up with the perfect combination of ingredients.
The lounge serves cocktails, great wines and micro brews. The art on the walls all comes from Mackay's personal collection of classic and local entertainers photos. With a great sounding in-house sound system, local blues artists entertain a full house every night they're there. A few weeks back, Kinzel & Hyde, one of Portland's most decorated blues duos, pumped out an evening of great blues and southern-style, fun-time music. This duo is a treat to see and hear. In addition to a very accomplished musician, LynnAnn Hyde is a great communicator. She tells stories about people and the songs they play and write. She comes across as the sweet down-to-earth and caring person she is. Stuart Kinzel does the majority of the singing and plays some of the tastiest blues licks around.
Kinzel has been a "mainstay" in the Northwest blues and traditional music community since the mid-'70s, when he played with or opened for many of the region's top acts. He plays guitar, mandolin, banjo, sings and writes songs. His partner and wife Hyde, has performed since 1996. She plays diatonic and chromatic harmonica, as well as button box accordion, sings and writes songs. Hyde holds endorsement contracts from Baldoni Accordions and Hohner Harmonicas.
Kinzel & Hyde were honored by the Cascade Blues Association with "Best Traditional Act" wins and "Best Guitar" and/or "Best Harmonica" nominations each year since 2000. They are in the Muddy Awards Hall of Fame. They also resurrected Blues In The Schools for the CBA. Kinzel & Hyde have recorded three self-produced CDs. Their 2001/2002 release Oklahoma Credit Card is featured on XM Radio’s Bluesville, DirecTV BluesChannel, as well as numerous other internet blues stations. It was called one of the top 10 Indie blues releases on NPR Blues On Stage (Ruth Brown host) 2002, as well as several other "Best Of 2002" release lists worldwide. They have been included on seven NW compilation discs including the Official Year of the Blues/ Water Front Blues Festival 2003 CD on Allegra Records. They continue to record under contract to Blue Heron Entertainment Group with In Real Time released in March 2008.
Music has always run in the family. Hyde notes that her mother sang with southern swing bands in Louisiana at age 18 and she is very proud of her son Wes "Haven" Hyde and his group, The Nukl Hedz.
If you haven't been to Halibut's, you really need to make it a point to do so. Get there early, enjoy a dinner and stay for Portland's best blues, with Lloyd Jones on Mondays, Thad Beckman on Wednesdays, Terry Robb every Thursday and a variety of other great acts on weekends. For a complete line up, check Music on Tap.