Sunday was the one-year anniversary of Ed Ackerson's death to cancer, and friends and family of the Minneapolis rock producer/bandleader/guru marked the sad occasion with a joyous new project.

Ackerson's former label Susstones surprise-released a 30-track tribute album on Sunday, titled "Closer to Heaven: A Tribute to Ed Ackerson" and featuring an all-star cast of Minnesota music mainstays as well as admiring artists from around the globe. It was made available for streaming and download via Bandcamp.

Among the local contributors are the Jayhawks, Motion City Soundtrack, Soul Asylum, the Ocean Blue, Mark Mallman, the Melismatics, Porcupine, Kraig Johnson, Chatham Rise, Magic Castles, the Stress of Her Regard and Two Harbors. The latter's guitarist Kris Johnson served as producer on many of the tracks.

The cast of non-Minnesotans includes Tanya Donelly of Belly and Throwing Muses fame, the Blake Babies' John Strohm, the Dandy Warhols, David Poe, the Lilacs and Holy Ship.

Now the president of Rounder Records, Strohm was among the participants in the live tribute to Ackerson at First Avenue in February, which probably would have gone down as one of the year's best shows even without the pandemic.

The idea for the album actually came before Ackerson's death at 54 on Oct. 4, 2019, all the way from Sweden, where Holy Ship bandleader Jonatan Westh heard about his illness via Pete Townshend of the Who and wanted to pay tribute.

Chris Riemenschneider, Star Tribune
Cover art for the Ed Ackerson tribute album.

Westh's version of "Black and Blue" is a centerpiece of the collection, a song that Ed and his wife Ashley Ackerson released with their band BNLX in the early-'00s. Other songs re-recorded for the tribute go way back to his '80s bands the Dig and 27 Various, while the title of the collection comes from one of the last tracks released by his '90s group Polara — reinvented here by the Ocean Blue.

Also over the weekend, Susstones announced a second vinyl pressing for Ackerson's last project, "Capricorn One," a whirring and mesmerizing space-rock masterpiece that he recorded while being treated for pancreatic cancer.

All downloads of "Closer to Heaven" ($20) will go toward a 529 education fund for Ackerson's daughter Annika, who just started kindergarten.

Here's the full tracklist for the album — for now, that is. Susstones says more recordings will be added to the project.

  1. The Jayhawks - Got Your Message
  2. Motion City Soundtrack - Wired Weird
  3. The Dandy Warhols - A Brighter Day
  4. The Ocean Blue feat. Ebbot Lundberg - Closer to Heaven
  5. Soul Asylum - Transformation
  6. Melissa Gibbs & Tanya Donelly - Like the Poison
  7. Kraig Johnson & The Program - Light the Fuse and Run
  8. Mark Mallman - Counting Down
  9. Two Harbors - Turn On and On
  10. Holy Ship (Sweden) - Blue and Gold
  11. John P. Strohm - A+B=Y
  12. Les Big Byrd (Sweden) - Light It Up
  13. David Poe - Jetpack Blues
  14. The Lilacs - Problem With Mary
  15. SAVAK (NYC) - Send It Through The Post
  16. The Melismatics - Source of Light
  17. Magic Castles - So Long
  18. Justin Courtney Pierre - Idle Hands
  19. Chatham Rise - Down the Line
  20. The Boen Arrows (feat. Dan Boen of Polara) - Do Without
  21. Escape From Minneapolis - Burn the Boats
  22. Fairchord & Fixer - Wig On
  23. Jerry Leftowitz (of The 27 Various) - Granny Smith
  24. Pete International Airport - Song For Mire
  25. Porcupine - Swoop Factor 9000
  26. APZOO (Asalto Al Parque Zoológico) (Argentina) - Can't Get Over You
  27. Runtom Knuten (Sweden) - A+B=Y
  28. The People Between - BNLX2day
  29. The Stress of Her Regard - Sort it Out
  30. D*omchild - 1929

Here are a couple of the tracks to sample from two of Ackerson's closest hometown cohorts.

Chris Riemenschneider • 612-673-4658

@ChrisRstrib