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 of the famous Levi and the Rockats rockabilly punk group - in 1989 in L.A. 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 into the project, the band started to gain major label attention. They signed in to Elektra Records and released self titled album in 1990.
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) 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.