For Shipe, change is the only constant.

Byline: Carolyn Lamberson The Register-Guard

`John Shipe and the Blue Rebekahs" is an album born of transition.

This eighth release from Eugene singer-songwriter Shipe and his first with his new band captures the two years between his work with the Scapegoats and the Blue Rebekahs.

`This album is a little different from the last album in that it wasn't conceived and executed as one project,' Shipe said. "It was more of a poking at it and adding to it over the past couple years.'

Shipe and the Rebekahs will celebrate the arrival of the self-released `John Shipe and the Blue Rebekahs' with a CD release show today at Sam Bond's Garage.

The Blue Rebekahs may be a new name, but the faces behind the band should be familiar.

Drummer-vocalist Scott Headrick was a founding member of Pellet Gun and currently is with Saltlick. Bassist-vocalist Sean Peterson has played with Son Mela'o and Azuquita, and now plays with Dan Jones and the Squids.

Chris Chatto was active on Santa Barbara's music scene - where he jammed with members of Toad the Wet Sprocket - before moving north to Eugene.

Horn player, guitarist, percussionist and vocalist Tim McLaughlin of Eleven Eyes holds the title of "permanent special guest," Shipe said. He brings to the Blue Rebekahs that "acid component" that makes Eleven Eyes so popular.

An ever-changing lineup of musicians is the norm for Shipe.

`I have had different lineups over the years, and every lineup doesn't necessarily have a definite start or finish,' he said. "Although I can identify a very distinctive lineup at any one time, it's an always-evolving thing.'

The first group of musicians to "name themselves," Shipe said, was the Scapegoats, with whom Shipe recorded 2003's double CD, "Pollyanna Loves Cassandra."

The Blue Rebekahs coalesced a little more than a year ago, although individual members hooked up with Shipe before that.

`They're just really musically clever guys,' Shipe said. "Previous lineups I had were pretty much straight-from-the-hip rock musicians.

`Not that they weren't extremely good musicians. But these guys add from the head as much as they add from the heart and guts.'

The music is electric and funky. The songs are just what longtime Shipe fans have come to expect - smart, well-crafted and, above all, sonically inter- esting.

The songs span a number of years, adding to the album's sense of transition. A couple were done by the Scapegoats. A couple more stem from Shipe's intervening acoustic period. The rest are all John Shipe and the Blue Rebekahs.

Shipe said he initially laid down acoustic tracks for about 20 songs. Half he discarded. The rest took on a new life when the Rebekahs turned their attention to them.

`As new band members joined and new things happened that we got excited about, we added things as a band,' Shipe said, adding that the record reflects that time of change from the Scapegoats to the Rebekahs.

`At the end of the project, we did what we could to make the whole thing sound coherent,' he said. "In a funny way, it's an album that can be very much owned by the Blue Rebekahs.'

`Coffee House Gig' is a personal favorite of Shipe's.

`That song is about finding out that the electric music scene, that the world has gone numb to it and that it's easier to make a connection with the audience by going to the bottom of the music industry ladder: the coffeehouse,' he said.

And Shipe knows something about coffeehouses. When he's not playing with an electric band, Shipe can be found on the cafe scene, doing the singer-songwriter-with-an-acoustic-guitar thing.

`I never think of the acoustic thing as a downgraded electric thing,' he said. "I try to make it its own thing. On the other hand, I don't think of the electric thing as just the acoustic thing, only louder.'

After a few dates this winter with the Blue Rebekahs, Shipe will spend several months playing shows either by himself or with keyboardist Chatto.

`Then,' he said, "I'm thinking I might find out if anyone wants to be in an electric lineup next fall.'

CONCERT PREVIEW

John Shipe and the Blue Rebekahs

What: CD release show

With: Tractor Operator, Smells Delicious

When: 9:30 p.m. today

Where: Sam Bond's Garage, 407 Blair Blvd.

How much: $5

Also: Reception for exhibit of works by Claire Flint, 6:30 p.m., free

CAPTION(S):

John Shipe and the Blue Rebekahs: (from left) Chris Chatto, John Shipe, Sean Peterson and Scott Headrick. The band will mark the release of its CD today with a show at Sam Bond's.