The Flatliners have put out their acoustic cover of The Tragically Hip's track “Ahead By A Century†in celebrations of Toronto's "Tragically Hip Day," which was August 10, 2016. The proceeds from the song will be donated to the Gord Downie Fund for Brain Cancer Research. The band last released Division of Spoils in 2015 via Fat Wreck Chords.
You can listen to the song as well as read the band's statement about it below.
We were far, far from home last week when Toronto Mayor John Tory deemed August 10th ‘Tragically Hip Day’ - so we thought we’d do something special.
We’re currently on tour in Europe, and not able to take part in the festivities around Toronto to celebrate the iconic and bountiful career of The Tragically Hip, so we spent August 10th taking in the beautiful sights of Venice and reflecting on how much The Hip have inspired us as musicians. Any time we’d turn the radio on, or flip the channel to MuchMusic as kids, there were Gord and the boys. It was easy to feel the impact of a band who explored their musical abilities so boldly - and did so completely on their own terms. If you think about it, it’s pretty fucking punk rock. So we decided to record our own acoustic version of “Ahead By A Century†in Venice too. Through his years Gord has truly inspired a nation of thinkers, believers, and dreamers - always inspiring us to be creative, providing the soundtrack to our good times, and also helping us through the tough ones. I think it’s time for us all to give back.
You can stream our acoustic version of "Ahead By A Century" on Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/track/0PBRYo7aacFFuaDSnNXyq7) and iTunes, and all of the proceeds will be donated to the Gord Downie Fund for Brain Cancer Research at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.
You can also purchase the song from our Bandcamp (http://theflatliners.bandcamp.com/) where 100% of your donations will be passed along to the Gord Downie Fund as well. You can access all this by simply visiting http://bit.ly/FlatsAhead Much love and respect to The Hip for everything they’ve done for kids like us just trying to find a place to play our music. The inspiration just gets stronger and stronger. And to a true Canadian legend: Gord, we love ya!
Cover photo by Rory Sylvester