Photo courtesy of East Cameron Folkcore

East Cameron Folkcore‘s Allen Dennard has never been a big Salinger fan, but he can credit the author with saving his life. “I read The Catcher in the Rye when I was in high school and it upset me,” he told Hive. “I remember throwing the book across the room when I was done. I remember feeling very hopeless and bitter.” Still, when the author passed, he was inspired to write “Salinger’s Dead” because he was desperate “to get honest about the reasons behind my drinking” and “to recall what it was that upset me so much about the book.”

Feeling a lot like Holden Caulfield when he enters the mental ward, Dennard confronted his demons and all-consuming “feelings of uncertainty.” He urged his bandmates to do the same, and soon Jesse Moore and the rest of the Austin 11-piece were working hard on their arrangements. It wasn’t long before they had an incredible song on their hands.

“I just started playing this chord progression I’d been working out and within a couple minutes the song was born,” said Moore. “Not many songs come this easily, and usually when they do, I’m pretty skeptical and just throw them away. But I played it for Allen and the band, and it was well-received, so we started playing it.”

But the real clincher is the raw emotion that comes through Dennard’s vocals — you’ll never be able to claim he’s a phony on this one.

East Cameron Folkcore’s new album, For Sale, comes out Feb 5 as a pay-what-you-wish download or limited-edition vinyl LP.