Yesterday, Sunday, marked one year since the death of beloved Minneapolis musician Ed Ackerson. Susstones, the label Ackerson founded, surprised fans and friends with the release of a 25-track tribute album featuring covers of Ackerson songs by local and national artists including Motion City Soundtrack, the Jayhawks, and Soul Asylum.

The Star Tribune reports that the album has been in the works since before Ackerson's death, when Jonatan Westh learned of Ackerson's illness from Pete Townshend — who gave Ackerson an onstage shout-out when the Who played Target Center last fall.

Like the Songs for Slim project (which Ackerson played a key role in recording), the Ackerson tribute — titled Closer to Heaven — is an open-ended album, with more covers to be added in the future. Proceeds from album downloads will go towards an educational fund for Ackerson's daughter Annika.

"The album title was inspired by the final Polara release in 2009," explains the label in a statement, "a digital only single that received only very limited release. It was rediscovered during the research for this project and seemed like a fitting title for an Ed tribute album." As the tribute's opening track, "Closer to Heaven" is performed by the Ocean Blue featuring Ebbot Lundberg. The original Polara version is also now available on Bandcamp.