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meet Hedge Cutter

Hedge Cutter (aka Kevin Carroll) is the lead singer of The Mangledwurzels. With absolutely no skills in playing instruments and less interest in learning, Hedge concentrates on performance, entertainment and trying to remember the song lyrics. However, what he may lack in musical dexterity, he amply makes up for in sheer persona and stage presence. Born and bred in Shepton Mallet, Hedge is as Zummerzet as they come, and was a natural choice when Jethro and Seth came looking for a frontman for the band.

As the oldest member of The Mangledwurzels, Hedge is the father figure of the band, and controls the youngsters with a rod of iron, a sharp tongue - and when that fails - by bribing them with mugs of scrumpy. In return, the other band members treat him with all the lack of respect that they feel that he deserves.

Kev was previous frontman in the Frome-based five-piece blues band Dressed To Kill (below, left) where his waistcoat and bracers are replaced with a loud Hawaiian shirt. Dressed To Kill, formerly known as Circle of Blues, were a good-time rhythm & blues band with Hedge adding an innate sense of fun which inevitably spilt over to the audience – Kev spent as much time dancing and singing in the midst of the audience, as up on stage. Dressed To Kill had made quite a name for themselves over the six years they gigged around the West Country - even playing on the BandSand at the 2000 Glastonbury Festival - the same year that The Wurzels played there. And just to show his versatility, he also sang with the Shepton Mallet Big Band (below, right).

Kev was also a member of Shepton Mallet rockers Squashed Pyrannah (below, left). That's him second from left; nice afro haircut there Kev! He was also a member of KAOS, a four-piece rock band from Street (below, right). Rumour has it that Jim Morrison modelled himself on that image for The Doors.

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