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New Mexico is hip deep in talented singer/songwriters, and the two acts headed to the Outpost this weekend most definitely make the cut. Bébé La La, which comprises Alicia Ultan (vocals, guitar, viola) and Maryse Lapierre (vocals, accordion, harmonium), identifies as Albuquerque’s folk Americana Français duo, and they’ll be adding a rock and roll coefficient this weekend, appearing as the Bébé La La Band, with Arnaldo Acosta on drums and Mike Fox on bass. Multi-instrumentalist Martha Reich (the “ch” is pronounced sh), a New England native who settled in Santa Fe 20 years ago, is riding on the wave of her latest album, Brave Bird. It has collected the Gold Medal for Female Vocalist in the Global Music Awards, LA Critics Award for Best Folk Artist, and a Clouzine International Music Award for Best Indie Album, as well as three New Mexico Music Award nominations. She’ll be appearing with her longtime colleague, cellist Michael Kott.

The primary challenge for the high-spirited Bébé La La this weekend has been which songs to add to the set list. They started working together 10 years ago, and over that time, they’ve developed a diverse and extensive repertoire, which includes a number of tunes that they’ve yet to record.

“It was kind of hard to decide on just one set,” says Lapierre.

“So we put a set together that features a lot of different things—different styles, different languages,” says Ultan. “So we’re not only doing French. We’re also doing Greek.”

“We speak Greek now,” says Lapierre mock seriously before the two of them burst out laughing.

The Greek tune, “Όλα Τα Δύσκολα” (“All the Hardships”) is one that “got to my soul,” says Ultan, who heard the song on a Putumayo recording. Claudio Tolousse will join them on that tune and a couple of others.

The yet-to-be-recorded “Magic Hour” and “Step Back”—both of which are a call to arms for the animals and the environment—will be included, with Reich joining in on the former on mountain dulcimer. “Sister Sister,” from their New Mexico Music Award–winning album High Wire, will be included, with Reich’s vocal addition making for three-part harmony and with Kott on cello. You can also count on a couple of more old favorites and three French tunes.

Bébé La La has been presenting their beautiful harmonies in the context of a quartet since February, and Ultan and Lapierre are full of praise for their new bandmates, Acosta and Fox, who bring a welcome new and creative energy to the proceedings.

Reich and Kott will open the evening. For Reich, music has long been about healing—for herself as well as her audiences. Her latest album, Brave Bird, which she calls “my most personal one,” chronicles a journey from self-doubt to self-confidence. Explaining how she overcame her self-doubt to expose her most vulnerable thoughts and feelings, she recalls advice she received in a class called Your Exceptional Record, by Cari Cole: “I remember her saying, ‘When you write, write that thing that you don’t want anybody to hear. Write that thing that you don’t really want to say.’ I mean, I’ve done that sort of all along. For me, it’s healing. But for this record, I said I’m really going to dig deep, and I’m just going to do that.”

It takes courage to expose one’s weaknesses, and the response of audiences has helped encourage Reich. “Finding the courage—the more and more that people would say how much it helped them or they connected with it, it was sort of like, OK, there’s a reason for me to do this,” she says.

The songs, rich in metaphor, are intimate and hushed, carried on Reich’s clear, warm vocals and Kott’s expressive cello. Several guests appear on the album, including Ultan on viola on a couple of tracks, and she’ll accompany Reich and Kott on two songs from Brave Bird, “If You Only Knew” and “Fade Away.” Reich will also perform some material from earlier albums, as well as some newer songs that are as yet unrecorded.

A certified music practitioner (and a massage therapist), Reich also sings at cancer centers and hospices and has found this work rewarding. “I absolutely love it,” she says. On stage, on record, or in a medical setting, Reich brings musical healing to every audience.

Martha Reich and Michael Kott + the Bébé La La Band
Saturday, April 20, 7:30 p.m.
Weil Hall at the Outpost Performance Space
210 Yale SE, Albuquerque
Tickets: $15 (member/student); $20 (general)
For tickets or more information, click here, or call 505-268-0044.

© 2019 Mel Minter