The Havalinas
The Havalinas are a gypsy-folk-rock band from U.S.A California, formed by and Tim Scott McConnell and Stephen Dennis Smith a.k.a. Smutty Smiff - former bandmates in Levi and the Rockats, a punk-styled rockabilly group - in 1989 in L.A.[1] This year Smutty was coming back from Arizona, after 4 months of rehab, to find his soul brother - Tim - quitting the music business and working as a doorman at gay bars and cleaning people's homes.
At first, they were playing at Smiff´s home in the Fairfax district, then in a nearby Molly Malone's pub. They gained public attention for their unique sound, great lyrics and anti-establishment vibe. After recruiting Charlie Quintana[2] into the project, the band started to gain major label attention. They signed into Elektra Records and released self-titled album in 1990.[3]
The band achieved a great success and soon toured with Bob Dylan, as well as with Chris Isaak , Tina Turner and Crowded House to name a few.
The biggest recognition the band has gotten in 2014, when Bruce Springsteen covered the song High Hopes (for the second time)[4] on same titled album, which took nr 1 place in 15 countries. Springsteen said himself, that he's the biggest fan of Tim's talent.[5]