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George Clinton sets a few dates, prepares to 'go country'

George Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic will hit the road at the end of the year for a few dates in support of Clinton's latest studio album, and Clinton also will take part in an upcoming reality-TV show.

The rock/funk visionary shows a New Year's Eve gig in San Francisco on his agenda, along with a Jan. 2 show in Los Angeles and Feb. 21 appearance in New York. Details are below.

The P-Funk leader's latest release, the all-star "George Clinton and his Gangsters of Love," slipped into stores back in September. The mostly covers set features guest appearances from The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sly Stone, El DeBarge, RZA, System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian and gospel singer Kim Burrell.

"It started out with me doing some doo-wop songs," Clinton recently told Billboard.com. "As we got going, people started coming through to be on it."

Streaming samples from the album can be heard on Clinton's MySpace page. Clinton's previous studio release with the P-Funk All-Stars is 2005's "How Late Do U Have 2 B B4 U R Absent?" That album was the funk legend's first new music in six years following a legal battle over ownership of his back catalog.

In other Mothership news, Clinton is set to go country on Season 3 of the CMT reality series "Gone Country." Hosted by John Rich (of Big & Rich), the series features celebrities competing to become a country singer. Clinton will be competing against six other contestants, including the Monkees' Mickey Dolenz, Richard Grieco of "21 Jump Street" fame, and drummer and Prince protege Sheila E.

According to a press release, production is currently underway for the show's third season and the series will premiere in January.