Rowdy and raucous are the men of Outspoken, a gnarling punk-pop five-piece hailing from Louisville, KY. David "E" Frazier is the brainchild behind Outspoken, for he had a brief record deal at the dawning of the new millennium, however, shady details made him leave his hometown of Nashville for the hills of Kentucky. There, he placed an ad on the Internet in hopes of getting a band together. The only one who responded was guitarist Kevin McCreery and Frazier was amped. McCreery drove 600 miles between his Saginaw, MI, home and Louisville in order to get something together with Frazier. The commute eventually got rough, so McCreery and Frazier moved to Louisville permanently; there, Shaun Kennedy (guitar), Donnie Highland (drums), and Frank Green (bass) joined the duo and Outspoken was officially a unit. Within three months, Lava inked the boys a deal and by the end of 2001,Outspoken was recording in a Seattle studio with Rick Parashar (Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Blind Melon). Bitter Shovel marked the band's fiery, energetic debut in February 2003. ~ MacKenzie Wilson