Music lovers are in for a treat. On Saturday, May 5 at 8 p.m., Heptunes will be bringing the Roche Sisters to the Nock School Auditorium in Newburyport.

Ever since the first song on their first major label album, the self-titled Warner Brothers release in 1979, you knew the Roches were, well, different.

We are Maggie and Terre and Suzzy Maggie and Terre and Suzzy Roche we don’t give out our ages and we don’t give out our phone numbers give out our phone numbers sometimes our voices give out but not our ages and our phone numbers.

Their harmonies were drop-dead stunning.

Rumors were that Paul Simon had heard them singing on a street corner and taught them to harmonize. The most obvious answer somehow never emerged from the major label hype.

Suzzy Roche laughs.

“Paul Simon taught us harmony? That’s one I’ve never heard,” she says. “We know Paul. He’s an amazing musician and we have great respect for him. He was instrumental in helping Maggie and Terre do their first album — he produced one track on it. But Paul did not teach us how to harmonize. We grew up singing.

“The truth is a better story. We were just three kids who shared a room, making up songs and stories. We had no formal training, we just sang in the house and at church. It wasn’t like today, it was a different time then. You could just sing if you wanted to.”

“We arranged and sang Christmas Carols, because none of us had any money, and sang for the tips,” she recalls.

“After a while, someone asked us to sing in a club, and that started to happen more and more. It wasn’t just the fact that we were so unusual, being sisters, but our songs and the tunes, and the instrumental arrangements were also very quirky. That led to more gigs for us.

“We worked up some Irish songs, because we really wanted to go to Ireland at that time,” she says.

The Roches are back singing and touring together after a 10-year hiatus. And fans, drawn to the eclectic musical synergy of the sisters, are welcoming them back.

“Yeah, at this point we’ve been doing it so long we have a language between us. People who come to see us seem to know that. Because of how well we know each other, it’s almost supernatural to work with family,” Suzzy says.  

Their latest album, “Moonswept” serves as a bookend to their 1979 debut album as a trio, “The Roches,” produced in audio verité by the avant-garde composer and guitarist Robert Fripp.

“The whole concept was that Robert wanted our voices out front. He wanted the songs and lyrics to be heard clearly. He wanted to take what we were doing, and bring it out. The first album really captured our greatest strength, our originality.”

Critical acclaim doesn’t always translate into commercial success. For Suzzy Roche, it doesn’t seem that the Roches have been harmed by their lack of mainstream appeal. In fact, she finds some solace in being able make a living as an artist and still stick with the truth.

“Artists are usurped by celebrity. Once you become a celebrity, it is very hard to keep to your message ... There is still a double standard about what women are allowed to say, and what men can say, musically. And what we do say is often marginalized.

“Still, it constantly amazes us how our fans come out of the woodwork when and wherever we have a concert. The commercial world does not support us, but there is an element of magic at work when we are out there performing together. I guess that must be why people seek us out. … It is really a beautiful relationship with the audience, special.”

While each of the sisters, Maggie, Terre and Suzzy have maintained outside interests and projects, the 10-year hiatus allowed them some space and the energy to focus on individual interests. For Suzzy, this meant releasing four solos albums and becoming active in the legendary Wooster Theater, a group of performing artists dedicated to performing and staging cutting-edge plays, often involving multi- media effects. The group was founded by, among others, Willem Dafoe and Spaulding Gray, and currently features Roche, Steve Buscemi and John Lurie as associates.

“I spent a lot of my time touring Europe with the group, which was really wonderful. It was a chance for me to stretch as an artist,” she says.

One very special project that involved both Maggie and Suzzy resulted in the 2001 release of an album of prayers called “Zero Church.”

“The idea of working with prayers and music was something I had been thinking about for many years,” Suzzy says. “Then we were invited to participate in a project that was part of the Institute for the Arts and Civic Dialogue at Harvard.”

As for the last 10 years, Suzzy believes the time apart has really helped them, and that evidence of that is really clear on “Moonswept.”

“Each of us over the last 10 years have gotten better at what we do and explored our strengths. On this album, and in performing, we let each other do what we do best, stay out each other’s way and support each other,” Suzzy says. “In that way, it’s a real classic Roche Sisters record. The arrangements are us. There’s a lot of information on it, the music is beautiful, and people who are interested in us will really like it.”

Interested?

The Roche Sisters with opening act Jake Armerding will be in concert May 5, 8 p.m. at the Nock Middle School in Newburyport. Tickets are $32.

CD REVIEW

“Moonswept”

The Roche Sisters

429 Records

Ten years between albums falls away pretty quickly when your foundation is the collective musical gifts of the three Roche sisters. The uncanny harmonies remain, the ability to pen literate and witty lyrics has only sharpened with the insights gained through living another decade of life; and while they have been missed as a trio, they have not missed a beat as artists of relevance.

The songs are about friends, family, memories and maybe memories.

The range of original material includes the infective playfulness that inhabits the songs of the Roches, as well as moments of deep and unguarded openness. Typical of the latter is the song “September 11th at the Shambhala Center,” about a memorial vigil on the anniversary of the loss of the Towers.

i hear your voice, don’t lose your nerve,

stay if you ran, you are the one who is

singing and i am the listener.

We are all listening. It’s great to have the Roche Sisters back on the radar screen.