U.S. Pipe

Since the 1970s, George Clinton and his Parliament-Funkadelic family have been laying down wiggly, old-school funk that's gotten booties shaking around the world.

New branches are sprouting off the P-Funk tree all of the time, and one of the newest is Denver-based U.S. Pipe and the Balls Johnson Dance Machine, whose name was inspired in part by a scene from Ice Cube's "Next Friday."

The group was formed a year ago by Chris "Citrus" Sauthoff, a former guitarist for local hip-hop/funk band Lord of Word and the Disciples of Bass. Sauthoff got to know Clinton and the other P-Funkers when Lord of Word opened for them at local shows in 1994; when Lord of Word broke up in 1998, Sauthoff joined the family full time as a stage
manager, guitar tech and occasional auxiliary guitarist, playing on P-Funk classics like "Maggot Brain" and "Atomic
Dog."

It was a dream come true for the young guitarist, but Sauthoff says he ultimately couldn't suppress the desire to play his own music.

"I was feeling really stifled at that point," he says. "I've gone through my problems with various monsters, and I think I
suppressed myself a lot in becoming a tech and leaving the music thing. When you become a tech, it's not about you
playing the song. It's about this other guy playing the song and you're supposed to just make sure it's right for him."

So Sauthoff started putting together his own band, which adds Sauthoff's fuzzed-out, Eddie Hazel-style guitar work to a funky stew that includes horns, keyboards and multiple singers. The ever-changing lineup often is augmented by PFunk
members such as Lige Curry and Rico Lewis, who will sit in when they're in town.

"I always want to keep it open for different guests and friends to come in and do stuff and add things, because I'm very inclusive," says Sauthoff, who brings the band to the Fox Theatre on Saturday for a headlining show. "I've learned a lot from George about that. He always has room for a guest somewhere and you can always fit in. It's a matter of getting in where you fit in, so I'm all about people that want to get in and can fit in."

Sauthoff, who also plays with Children of Production, a group led by Clinton's granddaughter, is a believer in the healing power of funk. He tries to keep shows as upbeat and fun as possible, reasoning that an audience will only
have as much fun as they see the band having.

U.S. Pipe and the Balls Johnson Dance Machine headline the Fox on Saturday.

"I think that kind of music just makes you get up and dance. It's motivational," he says. "I was thinking of being a doctor at one point, but I thought I could heal more people playing music — by just blasting them with love. And
blasting them with music and energy and vibrations, and heal them by just letting them be happy for a while and forget about their bills and all that (stuff) and dance around and have a good time. That heals people. That's what it's
all about for me."

Saturday's headlining show is U.S. Pipe's debut at the Fox, a venue Sauthoff knows well from his days with Lord of Word and his continuing position with P-Funk.

"I'm going to have a blast. The Fox is my home," he says. "We sold it out so many times, with Lord of Word, with Parliament — that's my favorite place to play in Colorado, other than Red Rocks.

"The couple shows we did (in Boulder), the response was amazing. Denver has been a little harder, Fort Collins has been kind of strange too, but Boulder, as soon as I was there I was like, 'Yeah, here we go. Time to do it all over again.'

"I love Boulder."

WHO • U.S. Pipe and the Balls Johnson Dance Machine
WHEN • 9 p.m. Saturday
WHERE • Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder
TICKETS • $10
INFO • (303) 443-3399 or www.foxtheatre.com

Copyright 2006, DailyCamera. All Rights Reserved. - Boulder Daily Camera

Let’s cut through the bull and give
credit to the best band name of all time: U.S. Pipe and the Balls Johnson Dance Machine. The first half comes from a company sign, while the latter was pulled directly from the movie “Next Friday.”

Ringmaster and lead guitarist
Chris “Citrus” Sauthoff assembled the ever-changing 12-piece in the spirit of his favorite band, Funkadelic, for whom he’s been a member since 1995.

“It’s a big name for a big band, a ’70s funk band,” Citrus said. “There are three Funkadelic members in the project, including amazing keyboardist Danny Bedrosian for this tour.”

The Machine takes stage with a horn section, female backup singers, percussion and more at 9:30 p.m. on Friday at the Mangy Moose, and at 10 p.m. on Saturday at the Knotty Pine in Victor, Idaho.

USPATBJDM covers a handful of
Funkadelic tunes, but most of the
music is original. According to Citrus,
you may not be able to tell the difference, because the band stays true to the vintage sound. Trombonist Greg Boyer, another Funkadelic player who also tours with Maceo Parker, wrote the
horn charts.

“It’s nice to get help from the funk
family when I need it,” Citrus said. “This is a good party band.”
There’s no cover for the Moose show, and admission to the Knotty is just $5. - Planet Jackson Hole

With all its offshoots and spinoffs, Parliament Funkadelic has more members than Congress. It seems
every member of every funk band is about three degrees of separation from the prime minister, George Clinton.

Denver guitarist Chris Sauthoff, a.k.a. Citrus, is about one degree from Clinton. He spent a decade on the road with PFunk and is now playing live and recording with longtime Parliament-arians Lige Curry and Rico Lewis.

The three of them are bringing about 10 other members of U.S. Pipe and The Balls Johnson Dance
Machine on Saturday, Jan. 7, to the D-Note, 7519 Grandview Ave., Arvada. Also on the bill are
MojoMama and BiggaDigga.

It's something of a homecoming for Sauthoff, who attended East Arvada Junior High School "when it was up that way." However, he has traveled a long way in between visits to A-Town.

Like his Clinton connection, he is about three degrees of separation from Ravi Shankar, having learned
sitar from an Indian master. He is now bringing the funk to yoga practices. Playing "Maggot Brain" helps yogis enter their poses, he said. "They say they can do yoga better with it than without it," he said.

As for the band's long name, it comes partly from an old Southern factory and partly from a "Next
Friday" movie scene that's not fit for print (and he has some equally risqué acronyms for PIPE). - Mile High News

Chris Sauthoff sounds like a stoner. Explaining how his new band, U.S. Pipe and the Balls Johnson Dance Machine, got its name, he punctuates the anecdote with laconic bursts of laughter.

"I was on the way to a gig with P-Funk," recalls Sauthoff, who's worked as that act's stage manager for many years. "And we just saw this huge industrial building -- with smokestacks and all this shit -- and it said 'U.S. Pipe' on it. And everybody was just like, 'What a fucking cool logo and band name or whatever.' And it kind of stuck in my head. And plus, you know, we were thinking of acronyms like 'Party in Pussy Every Day,' and 'Pussy Is Power Eternal.' Also, Gary Scheider had a band called United Sound. So we thought, 'United Sound Pipe: Put it in your pipe and smoke it.'"

Sauthoff continues to redline the reefometer as he relates how he coined the latter part of the act's handle after taking a plane ride with John Witherspoon, whose role in Friday proved inspirational. "The day that I got to my house and the movie was on," he says, "it was playing the scene where he was kicking Ice Cube out of the house, talking about how he wanted to run around the house naked and have his balls swinging one way and his johnson the other. We were all high, and it was like, 'Yeah, U.S. Pipe and the Balls Johnson Dance Machine!'"

Suspicions confirmed. This kid's on drugs, folks.

But after spending nearly a decade on the road with George Clinton and company, how could Sauthoff not be? The guitarist -- he goes by "Citrus," a nickname he acquired playing in Lord of Word and the Disciples of Bass -- joined Clinton's crew as a guitar tech after the Lord parted ways with his Disciples in 1998. Eventually Sauthoff worked his way up to stage manager of the Mothership, a place where the clocks never quite make it to five o'clock. "It was always 4:20," he says, with a laugh.

Sauthoff's proclivity for the hippie lettuce is prominently displayed on his myspace blog (myspace.com/citradelic). Looking more like B-Real than B himself, Citrus is pictured immersed in a cloud of smoke and burning a Chipotle-sized blunt that would make Tommy Chong envious. And like other smoke fans of our increasingly Mile High City, Sauthoff's stoked about last week's election results. "My dream of owning a small coffee shop is getting closer and closer," he writes, in an obvious nod to places he's visited in Amsterdam, courtesy of his travels with P-Funk. "Yeah, I'll have two grams of Silver ShivaŠa gram of the Nepali Cream and a Vanilla Latte, please."

Kicking with Dr. Funkenstein, Sauthoff developed more than just an appreciation for the kind bud. He also became an insatiable funk junkie. "When we were in Europe, I had a fabled funk playlist on my iPod," he recalls of his times with Clinton. "And we sat there and rolled through the countryside listening to all these funk songs. It was just like…within two seconds he'd be like, 'Oh, that's fly. I remember that day.' It was so cool, because it was like every recording was a lesson of the funk. He would just start reminiscing about different players or whatever. I feel like I got my doctorate in funk, you know. It's been class all the time. It never stops. You never stop getting schooled out there."

Maybe not, but sooner or later you have to put your education to use. Although Sauthoff felt privileged to sit in with P-Funk over the years, eventually he found himself longing for something more. "I was playing a lot more in Parliament," he says, "but I was just the token guy. It's not my gig. I'm not in the band or whatever. And I just realized I was that close to being a rock star, and I quit to be a tech. And I'm still a hell of a musician. And I don't know, the fire got lit back up underneath me. I'm just like, 'This isn't enough, George.' I don't want to try and take anybody else's job or anything like that. I'm just going to try and take what I've learned and do something with it."

So in June, Sauthoff returned to Denver long enough to put together a scorching, twelve-piece funk band of his own. From what I've heard, U.S. Pipe is pretty damn good for white-boy-driven funk -- which I generally detest. It resembles 24-7 Spyz' take on P-Funk, only without being filtered through Bad Brains. And the act has gotten good response at the handful of shows it's played thus far, the most memorable being a headlining set at Lilt, a lesbian-centric festival held at the Foxhole this past summer.

"We had hundreds of lesbians screaming 'Pussy!'" Sauthoff exclaims. "It was great. There was a baseball game going on down the street, and I was like, 'I want all them baseball mugs to hear you yelling "Pussy!"'"

I'm sure the Atomic Dog would be proud. Some members of his band have already put their stamp of approval on the project; this Friday, November 11, when U.S. Pipe returns to Herman's, P-Funk's Rico Lewis, who has signed on to sing and play keyboards, will be joined by bandmate Lige Curry, who's slated to guest on bass. But even though Pipe will play some Funkadelic tracks, this isn't P-Funk, the Denver chapter.

"We do some Funkadelic stuff," Sauthoff says, "but not stuff that people are used to hearing. We do 'Can You Get to That' and 'Pussy' and early stuff that people don't hear all the time. I don't want to do 'Flashlight' and 'We Want the Funk' and those things. There's other bands to do that. You know, I want to pay homage to them, but I'm not trying to be a cover band or anything like that.

"I'm actually trying to quit George," he concludes, "and have this be my main stuff."

Looks like Sauthoff is ready to get high on his own supply. - Westword

U.S. PIPE AND THE BALLS JOHNSON DANCE MACHINE
IS BRINGING DENVER FUNK TO BOULDER

by THOMAS IVORY
Colorado Daily Staff
Sunday, June 11, 2006

It's time to get funky! U.S. Pipe and the Balls Johnson Dance Machine is a band that knows more than enough about how to funk up a show. The 13 members of the band (the number fluctuates from time to time) understand how to get the party dancing and begging for more.

U.S. Pipe is no stranger to the energy, sound and experiences of original funk music. Chris Sauthoff, the band's ringmaster, lead guitarist and vocalist, known to the music world as Citrus, has been jamming out with the funk masters themselves, George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic, for the past decade. Sauthoff has learned much from the prestigious legends of funk and has incorporated his knowledge into his own band, U.S. Pipe, which he established in his hometown, Denver, so he could once again play locally and bring a funk awareness to the city.

"I have learned from the P-Funk what it takes to get things done," said Sauthoff.

"Perfectionism and attention to detail has created a sound that is more than just a local band."

The expereince working with George Clinton and the P-Funk has helped Sauthoff grow into a stronger musician, he said. But a major discovery for Sauthoff was learning how to relax and flow with any situation while playing his music. Today he is not just an able musician, but is also ready to take any bad situation--like equipment problems--and work around them, all the while keeping a positive attitude.

That attitude helps the band maintain its energy to play hard and true. Everything, he said, will fall into place.

Clinton, Sauthoff said, would always say, "Ain't ner so serious," referring to learning how to express patience and relaxation. It's an attitude Sauthoff has tried to adopt when U.S. Pipe takes to the stage. They are comfortable, playing the way they know how to play and doing it for the fun of it. By doing this, he said, the audience mirrors the band's enthusiasm.

Missy "Bubbles Johnson" Gutreuter, vocalist for the band, knows the enjoyment of music.

"When the music is playing, I can't help but be smiling from ear to ear," said Gutreuter.

Gutreuter said Sauthoff's experience and knowledge gained with the P-Funk has reflected back onto U.S. Pipe. Sauthoff is a determined leader, willing to organize his own funk vision of classic, original funk in the Denver music scene, she said.

Sauthoff said he communicates with the band his image of the music, but he allows the rest of the members to "have the freedom to do what it is they want to do to get off," he said.

This freedom has allowed the band members to incorporate their own twist of funk in their own ways. With 13 members in the band, there are many different personalities that seep through in the music. But each member, even Sauthoff, has learned from others how to grow into a stronger musician and person.

"Before, I was very narrow minded," Gutreuter said. "But now, being with the band, I have learned to open up."

Sauthoff has even had success in bringing many special guests from the funk world to join U.S. Pipe on stage, leaving many people wondering who might show up at the party. With that, U.S. Pipe is a family. There is more to the band than just those who play instruments or sing. Many devoted fans, such as Shawana, a fan from Denver, help spread the word of U.S. Pipe by creating awareness of the music and upcoming shows. - Colorado Daily

The roots of Funk are strong in Colorado, and the Mile High City is quickly rising to become a Funk hub. On Feb. 23rd, the Mothership landed in Aspen at the Belly Up, followed the next evening by a sold out show at Denver’s Ogden Theatre. George Clinton, the undisputed master of the helm of his ship, took the stage before a hungry mob of Funkateers to give it up. After more than fifty years in the business, he is truly Funk’s living legend, having spawned Hip Hop and influenced several generations of today’s top artists. I was honored to have the time to spend with George and his P-Funk camp that weekend on their journey around the state. Many members of P-Funk have projects of their own here – bands and families that continue to grow the Funk culture the Mothership has planted, and George sees a bright future in sight: “It’s getting funky again.”

Opening for the Ogden show was U.S. Pipe & the Balls Johnson Dance Machine, led by Chris “Citrus” Sauthoff, who has been in the P-Funk family since 1995. Before joining P-Funk, he was the guitarist of the popular Denver Funk/Hip Hop band Lord of Word and the Disciples of Bass, who opened for P-Funk at the Ogden that year. This show was legendary as P-Funk had not been in Colorado since the 1976 Rocky Mountain Shakedown. Much rumor and speculation surrounds the absence of P-Funk’s touring in Colorado from 1976 – 1995. When asked about this hiatus, George simply states: “They had no place to hang the Mothership so it could fly.” Garry “Starchild” Shider saw something so special in Lord of Word that he left the P-Funk tour to stay and work with them. When Lord of Word broke up, Garry essentially kidnapped Citrus to go on the road with P-Funk as a crew member. Since that time, Citrus has been able to learn from his heroes and play onstage with them. “I got hip to the ship in 1976,” he says. “I was abducted twenty years later. Now I’m slowly coming up through the ranks, learning from the best, so I can carry the torch and keep it on the One.”

Joining U.S. Pipe in pumping up the Ogden were P-Funkers Rico “Ric Smoov” Lewis (emcee), Danny Bedrosian (keyboard wizard), and vocalist Belita Woods on “Hooker,” Garry on “Party with the Pipe,” and Jerome Rogers on “Control Freak.” Denver resident trumpeter and original Horny Horns player Rick Gardner also joined the Pipe on “Hooker” and “Enjoy Life,” and rejoined the P-Funk camp when “Flashlight” took the audience by the booty. “Denver is as good a place to funk as anywhere else on Planet Groove,” he says. “We, the players, are the keepers of the flame!” Rick is featured along with other P-Funk special guests on U.S. Pipe’s upcoming Party with the Pipe, due for release later this year with a Funk fest party in the works. The band’s trombonist and album co-producer Gus Hoffman says the record’s foundation “is a live recording, capturing the energy of our show, on top of which we’ve been able to add some very special effects.”

Funk is certainly getting its groove on in Colorado, and 2007 is shaping up to be the Year of The Funk in Denver… If your weekend was devoid of Funk, come by the Black Soap Palace every Monday night at Cricket on the Hill with Citrus as host for a jam sure to satisfy. Every other Tuesday of the month, Skip The Funktologist of KUVO 89.3’s A Funk Above the Rest hosts the 1st School of Funk Series showcasing funky up-and-coming acts at Jazz@Jack’s. Between the two, you should be able to cure your ill with a big pill!

www.GeorgeClinton.com / www.US-Pipe.com / www.aFfunkAboveTheRest.com
- Colorado Music Buzz, April 2007

It isn't often that a head shop turns 28, or that the funk comeback in Denver spawns a full-on ball to celebrate all things groovy and danceable. And when those things happen together...well, you don't want to be the one who misses out on all the fun.

Tonight at 7 p.m. at the Oriental Theater, 4335 West 44th Avenue, U.S. Pipe & the Balls Johnson Dance Machine headlines the first-ever Funk Ball, which also features the Nightown Band, Demon Funkies, the Caleb Riley Funk Orchestra and the Denver Funk Mob. Before you head into the ball, visit www.us-pipe.com and print out a coupon for $1 off a drink for costumed party people at Tenn Street Coffee, 4418 Tennyson Street. Then wander across the way to Parisi, where you can get 10 percent off your dinner when you show those dope threads; once you've taken care of your food and caffeine needs, get thee to the Ball, where Heads of State will give away prizes for the best costume and offer some items for auction. Funky! Tickets are $10 in advance at www.theorientaltheater.com, $15 the day of the party. - Westword, June 28-July 4, 2007

What I'm doing this weekend:

"Citrus" Sauthoff went from playing in local bands like Red Moon Storm to touring the world with renowned funkster George Clinton. Now he's back at home, playing with his band U.S. Pipe & The Balls Johnson Dance Machine (us-pipe.com), strumming the sitar and hosting the Black Soap Palace funk jam at Cricket on the Hill. He's even joined the faculty at Swallow Hill, where he'll lead a "Funk for All" workshop in September. We caught up with him between bass-slaps.

- What did you do last weekend?

This (last) weekend my mother had a thyroidectomy, so I spent Friday helping her through the process. We got to the hospital at the break of dawn and spent the day there till about 9 p.m. I then went home and chilled. Saturday I went back to the hospital in the morning and stayed till about 6; then I went up and played a show at The Foundry with U.S. Pipe & The Balls Johnson Dance Machine. Sunday morning it was back to Mom's, then we played at the Larimer Lounge for their summer barbecue. Mom was feeling better, so I got to go home after the gig.

- What do you have going on next?

This weekend we are headed out to play the Midwest. We left on Thursday morning and went to Lawrence, Kan. Then today we play at Diversafest in Tulsa, Okla. Saturday will be spent at the conference there, and we will be networking and trying to represent Colorado the best we can. - Rocky Mountain News, July 27, 2007

KEYSTONE - Chris "Citrus" Sauthoff left his gig touring with George Clinton to get himself "straight," he said. As a sitar player, he traveled to India to continue his study. While there, he asked a high-ranking guru to give him a mantra. The person told him, "You have your own guru and you left him and he's waiting," according to Sauthoff.

"I knew it was George," he said. And within a week he was back with the P-Funk.

Sauthoff played with the funk legends for 10 years, yet he didn't feel he was going anywhere with his music. A little over two years ago he created the funk band, U.S. Pipe and the Balls Johnson Dance
Machine.

"This band is about me gaining my freedom as a musician," he said.

The band got its start when Sauthoff showed up to an audition.

"I was just looking to get in where I fit in and could play music," he said. But the others thought
differently. They decided the band needed to be about him.

He had joined the tour with George Clinton as an internship to learn how to run a big band.

"Over a decade I learned. I consider it my master school," Sauthoff said. "This is my thesis. Can I become a new doctor of funk?

He said private gigs have been good for the band, but that Denver is a difficult market for funk.

U.S. Pipe performed last night at Keystone and will be there again tonight at the Snake River Saloon.

And the band's name?

While on the road with Clinton, Sauthoff came across a "gigantic pipe that reminded me of the Pink
Floyd 'Animals' soundtrack - such a visual."

He also felt a connection with the "om" sound, or creative force sound "being piped in through us."
The second half is a reference to the film, "Next Friday." He happened to sit on a plane next to John Witherspoon, who played Ice Cube's father in the movie. He got home and told his wife how cool the
actor was. They just happened to be flipping through the channels at the time, when they saw that "Next
Friday" was playing, and it was a poignant scene for Sauthoff, wherein Witherspoon's character talked about a "balls johnson dance."

"A free dance," Sauthoff said. "Freedom from the taboo of that."

Leslie Brefeld can be reached at (970) 668-4626 or lbrefeld@summitdaily.com. - Summit Daily News, September 25, 2007

Get there early enough to see U.S. Pipe

It's always a pleasure to see Fishbone gracing Denver with their genre-bending style that combines ska, funk, hip hop, rock and heavy metal elements to create an experience that can't be repeated until their return.

It is amazing that this band -- launched in 1979 -- has a following that spans decades. Kids young enough to warrant a second glance at their IDs rock out alongside those old enough to be their parents.

The theme of Sunday's show is the common thread among all present -- the feeling of positive art.

**Denver-based band**

Denver-based U.S. Pipe & the Balls Johnson Dance Machine is second on the bill with Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad opening the show. U.S. Pipe is an obvious opening choice; their name echoes the sentiment due to "Pipe" being an acronym for Positively Inspirational Pure Energy.

U.S. Pipe has taken its unique brand of funk to venues throughout Colorado, the Rocky Mountains and the Midwest for the last two years and received positive acclaim.

Born from Cirtrus Sauthoff, a former P-Funk member, everyone in U.S. Pipe is excited to be opening for Fishbone, especially drummer Chris Murphy who says former Suicidal Tendencies lead guitarist Rocky George -- who joined the band in 2003 -- is a big influence.

**Positive vibe**

U.S. Pipe sees their music as being about promoting a positive vibe and connection to all, not to mention that it's nearly impossible to sit still in the presence of its driving groove. This is dancing music at its best. It's sexy and fun, the kind of music that compels the audience to connect -- perhaps in more ways than one. As far as Sunday's performance, Citrus smiled and said, "We gonna leave a wet spot on the dance floor."

**Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad**

Opening the evening will be Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, a Rochester, N.Y.-based band that once lived in Fort Collins and liberally sprinkles Colorado venues into their tours.

GPGDS began as a funk band, but James Seal says that under the influence of Bob Marley tunes and a recent trip to Africa, reggae seemed to permeate the songwriting.

Ten years later, they've established a solid reggae sound that is more about the positive flow than political unrest. GPGDS will definitely get the groove going with a style that is laid-back and warm, with a beat to get those hips rolling.

All signs point to this show having a consistent groove that makes for a truly satisfying three-course ear meal. Make sure to get your fill.

Who: Fishbone, with openers Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad & U.S. Pipe & the Balls Johnson Dance Machine
Where: Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom, 2637 Welton St.
When: Sunday, Oct. 28. Doors at 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m.
Tickets: $17 in advance, $20 at the door - Denver Daily News, October 26, 2007