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March 23, 2015

Big Head Todd and The Monsters with G. Love and Special Sauce to play annual charity concert benefiting the Nicklaus Childrens Health Care Foundation and Nationwide Childrens Hospital alliance

Dublin, Ohio – Officials of the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide announced today the details of its 2015 benefit concert. IGS Energy Evening with Big Head Todd and The Monsters with G. Love & Special Sauce presented by City of Dublin will benefit the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation and Nationwide Children’s Hospital alliance in support of the Memorial Tournament Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

“We are eagerly anticipating this year’s annual benefit concert,” said Dan Sullivan, executive director of the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. As we enter the event’s ninth year, we are extremely proud of the considerable growth the concert has experienced and pleased that such a fun event is able to generate significant funds for the Memorial Tournament NICU.”

With the continued support of IGS Energy, now entering its fifth year as title sponsor, and City of Dublin who has backed the event from its inception in 2007, the benefit concert has raised more than $660,000 for Nationwide Children’s.

"We are thrilled to once again support this amazing concert event that benefits such a worthy cause. As a Central Ohio-based company, we are proud to give back to the communities we serve," said Scott White, president and CEO of IGS Energy.

The ninth annual benefit concert will be held Friday, May 22, at The LC – Lifestyle Communities Pavilion Outdoor Amphitheater in Columbus. Anders Osborne will open for Big Head Todd and The Monsters with G. Love & Special Sauce, with VIP doors opening at 6 p.m. EDT. Tickets are available at $175 per person or $350 per couple. For more information, please visit www.mtbenefitconcert.com or call (614) 355-5410.

About Big Head Todd and The Monsters:Since their formation in the mid-’80s, Big Head Todd & the Monsters have continued to evolve and explore, moving beyond their Colorado club circuit roots to become one of the most adventurous, respected and durable bands in America. Through constant touring and a zeal to travel down new musical avenues in the studio, BHTM (as their dedicated fans call them) have honed their collective stew of influences into a trademark hybrid sound that’s immediately recognizable. With their latest album release, Black Beehive, the quartet has made its most personal and poignant album to date, a collection of new studio tracks that, says co-founder and figurehead Todd Park Mohr, “allows us to truly reach our audience through the language of the blues.”

Recorded at Butcher Boy Studios in Chicago, Mohr’s hometown of the past seven years, and produced and mixed by Grammy-winning multi-instrumentalist Steve Jordan (whose previous production credits include John Mayer, Buddy Guy, Solomon Burke and Robert Cray), Black Beehive arrives a quarter-century after the group’s debut album, Another Mayberry, first put Big Head Todd & the Monsters on the map beyond their home base. Today, the original trio—Mohr on guitar and vocals, Brian Nevin on drums and vocals and Rob Squires on bass and vocals—along with keyboardist/pedal steel guitarist Jeremy Lawton, who joined in 2004, are still opening themselves to new possibilities even as they further explore their roots. “It has some contemporary elements that bridge a gap between alternative pop and traditional blues,” says Mohr about Black Beehive, whose title refers to the late British soul singer Amy Winehouse, the inspiration behind the album’s title track.

Official Website: www.bigheadtodd.com

About G. Love & Special Sauce:Twenty years after the release of their self-titled debut and eight years since their last live performance together, the original lineup of G. Love & Special Sauce return with their first album in nearly a decade, titled Sugar. Built on the trio’s signature hip-hop blues sound, Sugar finds vocalist/guitarist/harmonica player G. Love (aka Garrett Dutton), upright bassist James “Jimi Jazz” Prescott, and drummer Jeffrey “The Houseman” Clemens breathing new life into their groove-heavy, Chicago-blues-infused brand of stripped-down rock & roll. “The goal for the album was to make it really raw and immediate, with live takes and live vocals and everybody playing so that it all comes together in that intangible way,” says G. Love. “That’s what our music is all about.”

In bringing Sugar to life, G. Love & Special Sauce mined musical sources as varied as the hypnotic blues-guitar work of John P. Hammond and John Lee Hooker, the boundary-bending rhythms of The Meters and Lee Dorsey, and the infectious beats and seamless flow of hip-hop pioneers like A Tribe Called Quest, The Beastie Boys, and De La Soul. And although each band member brings his own distinct influences to their creative collaboration—G. Love’s lyrics draw inspiration from the street-wise storytelling of Lou Reed, Prescott is

highly studied in New Orleans jazz, and Clemens’s drumming references everything from early-‘70s Nigerian funk to the rocksteady era of reggae—Sugar again reveals the uncommon intensity and power of their musical synergy. “There’s a certain natural, unspoken chemistry between the three of us,” says Clemens. “Because we’re all very different individuals and oftentimes do our best communicating through our instruments, we’re able to meet in a musical conversation where others might not be able to.

Official Website: http://philadelphonic.com

In June 2010 a charitable alliance was announced among the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance, Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation for the benefit and advancement of pediatric care. With this aligned vision, all proceeds of the concert directly benefit the young patients served each day by the Memorial Tournament NICU at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

Advancing pediatric care in the Memorial Tournament NICU is already evident with its family-centered environment that provides the finest medical care for premature and sick infants. The NICU is one of the largest neonatal networks in the country. Rigorously trained neonatologists, advanced practice nurses and therapists utilize an interdisciplinary care approach to diagnose and treat patients suffering from complex birth defects, respiratory distress and metabolic diseases. This combined expertise makes the Memorial Tournament NICU one of the finest in the nation.

General admission tickets for Big Head Todd and The Monsters with G. Love & Special Sauce go on sale March 27 at all Ticketmaster locations. General admission tickets do not benefit the Memorial Tournament NICU at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. For more information on general admission please visit www.PromoWestLive.com.

About the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide

The Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide is held annually at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. The Tournament, founded and hosted by Jack Nicklaus, is conducted each year with three goals in mind: to honor the memory of individuals living and deceased who have distinguished themselves in the game of golf; to showcase the world’s best golfers competing on one of the most challenging venues in the world for the enjoyment of spectators; and to benefit many Greater Columbus Charities in alliance with the Nicklaus Children's Healthcare Foundation, Nationwide Children's Hospital and numerous other local organizations. For more information, visit www.thememorialtournament.com or call 614-889-6700.

About Nationwide
Nationwide, a Fortune 100 company based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the U.S. and is rated A+ by both A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s. The company provides a full range of insurance and financial services, including auto, commercial, homeowners and life insurance; public and private sector retirement plans, annuities and mutual funds; banking and mortgages; specialty health; pet, motorcycle, boat and farm insurance. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com.

Nationwide, Nationwide is on your side, Join the Nation and the Nationwide N and Eagle are service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.

Media Contact

Thomas P. Sprouse

Director of Communications

E-Mail: tsprouse@thememorialtournament.com

Office: 614-889-6791

Mobile: 614-519-1873

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