This year’s ‘Record Store Day‘ (April 13th) will find Mastodon paying tribute to their late manager Nick John, who passed away late last year following a battle with pancreatic cancer. On that day the band will release “Stairway To Nick John“. which will find them covering Led Zeppelin‘s “Stairway To Heaven“. Mastodon themselves commented on the personal meaning to that choice:

“In early September 2018, we lost one of our closest friends and our biggest fan, our manager Nick John. He was essentially the band’s Dad. From our highest highs to our lowest lows he was always there. Every single move we made went through him first as our trust in him was marrow deep. His favorite band besides us and Gojira, was Led Zeppelin.

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We were asked to perform ‘Stairway to Heaven‘ at his funeral. Afterward, finding out that someone had recorded it, we figured we should record a studio version and release it on Record Store Day as a tribute to Nick with all the proceeds to be donated to pancreatic cancer research. We would not be the band we are today without the help of Nick John. We miss him dearly and think of him always. We love you buddy.

The limited edition 10-inch vinyl features the Studio Version on Side A and a Live Version on Side B. It will be available in participating independent retailers on Saturday, April 13, 2019.

All of the proceeds benefit the Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research.”