Close Shave

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Close Shave is one of Australia’s oldest male a cappella groups. Based in Hobart, they perform at conferences, dinners, weddings, and other events, mixing traditional Barbershop with pop, jazz, gospel, sea shanties, swing, and comedy. The quartet formed in late 1983 with Ben Oxley, Paul Oxley, Brian Sykes, and Tim Begbie. Tim Begbie’s wife, Esther, is credited with naming the group Close Shave. They are members of AAMBS and have taken part in seven conventions since the first one on the Gold Coast in 1991. They won bronze in Perth in 1993, bronze again in Canberra in 1995, and silver in Sydney in 1997. In 2005, one lineup performed under the name “incognito” at the AAMBS Convention on the Gold Coast and finished fifth. In 1993, planning to travel to the Perth Convention inspired Tim Begbie to form Hobart’s only male barbershop chorus, The Wellingtones.