Finest Hour
Finest Hour are the 2017 European Quartet Champions and the 2016 BABS Quartet Champions.
Their score of 83% recorded in Harrogate in May 2018 is the all-time UK record for a male quartet and qualified them for the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) International Convention in Salt Lake City in July 2019. They placed 22nd in the Internal Contest with a score of 82.2%, the highest ever recorded by a UK male quartet on the International Stage.
The quartet is notable for consisting of three brothers from the 'Williams' family, with Jonny Pipe replacing Phil Cuthbert on bass as of July 2017. They were the guests of honour at the Sweet Adelines Quartet of Nations Region 31 convention at the Sage Gateshead and were the guest quartet at the 2016 Irish Association of Barbershop Singers Convention in Cork
Quartet members
- Tenor: James Williams
- Lead: Eddie Williams
- Baritone: Nick Williams
- Bass: Jonathan Pipe
Former Members
- Bass: Phil Cuthbert (2014-2017)
Contest placement
BABS National
| 2015 | 2016 |
| 3rd | 1st |
BHS International
| 2017 | 2019 |
| 28th | 22nd |
European Convention
| 2017 |
| 1st |
History
The three Williams brothers have sung together from a young age. They used to sing together with their father, Nigel Williams, under the name of Homespun. Homespun competed at the BABS Conventions for many years and were a crowd favourite but over time Nigel decided to step down. It was in 2014 that Phil Cuthbert, a long-time family friend, stepped in to help form the new quartet, Finest Hour. They went on to win the gold medal in Harrogate in May 2016 with a record-high score, but in 2017, after competing in Las Vegas, Phil decided to step down and was replaced by Jonny Pipe, who was a fellow singer at the time with The Grand Central Chorus in Nottingham.
Individual History
All members of the quartet have competed with Grand Central Chorus and won bronze, silver and gold medals in the BABS Chorus competition.
James Williams
- Homespun - BABS 3rd Place, 2013 and 2014
Eddie Williams
- Homespun - BABS 3rd Place, 2013 and 2014
Nick Williams
- Homespun - BABS 3rd Place, 2013 and 2014
Jonny Pipe
- House Lights Up - SABS National Quartet - 3rd Place, 2015
- The UniSons - BABS Youth Quartet - 3rd Place, 2014
Recordings
- This Is Us – (2016)
- Accentuate the Positive – (Scheduled for 2021)
See also
External links
- Finest Hour - on Facebook
- BABS - Society website
- BHS - Society website