KEY POINTS:
It would be an understatement to say Laurence Munday is partial to a spot of Pavarotti - a glance through the door of his Onekawa barber shop tells you that.
He's also partial to a bit of traditional barbering - hence the "cut-throat" razor on the shelf.
Under
the gaze of a golden Luciano Pavarotti, arms spread and in full voice, Napier's singing barber strops up the razor and delivers a good "old- fashioned" wet shave with a razor so sharp it will cleanly slice a tissue.
But Mr Munday did not deliberately set out to be a suburban version of Rossini's Barber of Seville. His love of singing, from soul, blues, jazz through to opera, and desire to create his own business, simply meant it came out that way.
"I was born in Hastings but grew up in Ruatoria - I'm an East Coast boy."
He found he had a skill in cutting hair while at Hato Paora College, Feilding - and cut boys' hair as a handy money-making sideline.
He took up the scissors with a career in mind after enrolling at hairdressing school in Christchurch in 1990 - but since arriving back in the Bay steered more toward bar and door security work ... plus a bit of singing on the side.
While at the Eastern Institute of Technology's now disestablished music school in 2002, he was taken under the wing of Patrick Power, and since then his heart has been set on making a career from his remarkable voice.
But he also figured he needed something to fall back on - so worked his way into buying what had been the Onekawa Barber Shop, turning it into The Groom Room 11 months ago.
He has recently introduced the traditional "cut-throat" razor wet shave, having been taught the art by hairdresser John Pugh, practising on foam-smeared balloons - "Didn't pop any."
His love of music soon took care of the decorations. There's a guitar, the Pavarotti mural, album sleeves, photographs and music.
"It's me ... it's what I'm all about."
Has he sung to a customer? "Yeah, once. It was a policeman, but it didn't get rid of my speeding ticket."
Any regrets thus far? "I always wanted to meet Pavarotti - he died the day before my birthday ... I was quite emotional that day."
And had he met the man, what would he have said? "Kia ora, bro."
On Saturday, Mr Munday will sing at an outdoor Christmas concert in Napier with Yulia, in a performance he is dedicating to his 82-year-old grandmother who can't make it to the concert.
"When I was a boy she would drive all the way from Waipawa to Ruatoria just to watch me lead the haka."
His rehearsals have been ... sharp.
