The official press release follows.
—U.S. PIPE & THE BALLS JOHNSON DANCE MACHINE TO OPEN FORGEORGE CLINTON AND PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC—
DENVER, COLO., February 13, 2007—It has been officially announced that local band, U.S. Pipe & the Balls Johnson Dance Machine (U.S. Pipe), will open for funk legends George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic (P-Funk) at their show at The Ogden Theatre on Saturday, February 24 at 8 p.m.
For U.S. Pipe founder and lead guitarist, Chris “Citrus” Sauthoff, this show is an important mark in his professional career. As lead guitarist of Denver band Lord of Word and the Disciples of Bass (LOWDOB) in 1994, he had the same opportunity at the same venue. This show is one of legend to funk fans: it was the first time P-Funk had been in Colorado since their other legendary appearance back in 1976 for the Rocky Mountain Shakedown. After making an earlier appearance at Lollapalooza, P-Funk took the stage at The Ogden Theatre after LOWDOB’s set and played all through the night into the sunrise hours, delivering a prolific performance to Colorado fans who had hungered for eighteen years to see P-Funk back in their beloved home state.
Citrus had been a fan since childhood and had the same hunger; to share a bill with his heroes was a magical chance of a lifetime. This moment sparked a relationship between P-Funk’s Garry “Starchild” Shider and the members of LOWDOB. “The group back then was so unique that I clung to them,” he says. He ended up leaving the P-Funk tour to opt for recording sessions with them, and over weeks, they came up with a cut that was unfortunately never released, “Dead in the Digital.”
Once Shider returned to the P-Funk fold, Citrus and LOWDOB went back to work but ultimately ended their run together. Months later, Citrus had a new job at the Mercury Café, a new home, and a girlfriend,and Shider showed up one day at a rehearsal space looking for him. He told Citrus to pack his bags and come out on the road with him and P-Funk, a tall order for a man who’d just settled down, but a demand to which he ultimately complied. He spent a couple years out on the road with P-Funk, and then left from 1997 – 2000.
He came back, once again, at Shider’s insistence. Shider relates, “Cit went out into the mountains, you know, with his acoustic guitar, and one day, he just called me up. I said to him, ‘I’m glad you called. You gotta come to work.’” Once more, Citrus followed the funk and has been out on the road at P-Funk’s calling ever since, taking only a few breaks to work on his project back home, Funkadelic-inspired and flavored U.S. Pipe.
U.S. Pipe has had several successful shows in the Denver metro area, appearing at venues such as The Oriental Theater, The Fox Theatre and The Walnut Room. In June of 2006, Shider appeared with them at the Capitol Hill People’s Fair and at Bender’s Tavern, alongside P-Funk bassist Lige Curry, who has made several appearances with U.S. Pipe, having started out as their bass player in their earlier performances. Several other P-Funk members have appeared with U.S. Pipe at other shows: Rico “Ric Smoov” Lewis, who has appeared many times as a keyboardist and emcee; vocalist Kendra Foster; Clinton’s granddaughter and front woman of Children of Production, Sativa; vocalist Kim Manning; and most recently, keyboardist Danny Bedrosian.
“I love that U.S. Pipe is opening for P-Funk. It reminds me of old times, that’s where he (Citrus) started, that’s where he is again,” Shider smiles.
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