FEATURE: Spotlight: The War and Treaty

FEATURE:

Spotlight

The War and Treaty

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A GRAMMY-nominated duo who…

PHOTO CREDIT: Alysse Gafkjen for Rolling Stone

have been on the scene for a while but are getting a lot of spotlight and buzz now, The War and Treaty should be on your radar. Their latest album, Lover’s Game, was released last March. They are a terrific husband-and-wife duo consisting of Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter. I guarantee you will love what they are doing. I want to come to a few interview from The War and Treaty from last year. To give you some depth and background about this amazing musical force. I will start with some biography from their website:

“Founded in 2014 by the husband-and-wife duo Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter, The War And Treaty has emerged as one of the most electrifying new acts in American music. Recently earning their first ever GRAMMY nominations for Best New Artist and Best American Roots Song for “Blank Page,” they also received this year their first ever Duo of the Year nomination from the Country Music Association, Vocal Duo nomination from the Academy of Country Music, plus recognition by the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Grand Ole Opry, and the Americana Music Association including earning AMA Duo/Group of the Year for the second straight year.

With a lionhearted sonic blend, both roaring with passion and tender to the touch, The Tennessean notes, “they are unlike any other act in music.” The War And Treaty’s major label debut album Lover’s Game (Mercury Nashville), was met with critical praise with Associated Press claiming, “The colossally talented pair continue their commando, no-limits journey to the top of the music world.” Drawing respect across the board, they have gone on to appear as top-flight collaborators including the latest “Hey Driver” with Zach Bryan.

The War And Treaty has captivated audiences across the globe from North America to Europe, Australia and beyond, while headlining their own shows and opening for a diverse group of living legends: Al Green, Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell, John Legend, Lauren Daigle, and Van Morrison among them”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Austin Hargrave

I am going to move onto an interview from The Guardian. The story of how Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter found one another and started making music together is amazing:

“He was a wounded Army veteran, she was a failed R&B star. Together they’ve transmuted trauma into powerfully uplifting gospel and country music – and John Legend is set to film their love story

Michael Trotter did his very best to stop Tanya from falling for him. I’m a screwup, he told her. I’ve already got a divorce in my 20s, I’ve been to war twice, I’m wounded. I am not a catch. “She just looked at me and said, ‘Are you done?’” says Michael. “‘Because I’m going to tell you what I see. I see a king. You just need the right kind of queen.’”

The resulting partnership, both marital and musical, has proven her right. See the Trotters in a room together and you almost feel sorry for other couples. Watch them on stage, as the War and Treaty, and you’re transported into the heart of their relationship. Their Glastonbury debut last year had the devotional fervour of a revival meeting, and their fourth album, Lover’s Game, released this month, bursts with emotion, inspired by the gospel and country sounds they have both loved since childhood.

It is a creation of great experience and even greater joy. Last year they opened for John Legend’s tour; their own love story is so epic that Legend is now making it into a movie.

Michael is an army veteran who suffers with depression and PTSD and for whom music is therapy. Sometimes he will sit and write several songs a day just to process his feelings. “I’m thinking of one right now,” he says. The US had just invaded Iraq when he enlisted at 21; he was stationed in one of Saddam Hussein’s former palaces in Baghdad. When fellow soldiers died, he sang tributes to them on a piano he found there. “I was very blessed in the leaders I had,” he says. “They all encouraged me in my music-making. They saw I had a different calling.”

His service completed, he met Tanya Blount in August 2010, when they played the same festival in Maryland. Tanya was on her second musical career – her first had peaked in her teens, when she appeared opposite Lauryn Hill and Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act 2 and signed a deal with Sean Combs’s record label to become an R&B star at 16. “I knew at eight that this was what I wanted to do,” says Tanya.

But she took a break from the business after an unsatisfactory experience with Bad Boy Records. “I’d been in a pretentious world for pretty much most of my teens and 20s,” says Tanya. “In R&B, hip-hop, nothing’s what they say it is. The car’s not theirs, the chain’s not theirs. Everything is rented.”

Michael, by comparison, was candid to a fault. They fell for each other at first sight. “I remember her saying: ‘I’m not looking for a bank account, I’m not looking for a six pack,” says Michael. “And I jumped for joy because I don’t have neither.”

The sound they arrived at as a duo is the product of relentless work and ruthless honesty. “We’d be doing eight hours of rehearsal at home, and if the song didn’t move us we’d trash it,” says Michael. “If we’re not feeling teary, or some emotional connection, it’s not worth it.” Some of their most upbeat choruses hide the couple’s trauma in plain sight. Five More Minutes was named for the day in 2017 that Michael had decided to end his life and Tanya asked him to stay with her just a little longer”.

Maybe now only starting to get the credit they fully deserve, The War and Treaty will find a whole new wave of fans this year. I hope that they manage to come to the U.K. and Europe to tour. Holler caught up with The War and Treaty last year. With Michael and Tanya coming from very different backgrounds/paths but having this instant connection, harmony and incredible talent, this Gospel-Country-Soul duo are going to making music for many years to come. I think that they warrant a lot more exposure on radio and in the music media:

“Though the pair hadn’t yet met, Michael had already spotted Tanya in the movie and, rather fortuitously, her head was turned when she heard him perform at a local festival.

By 2014 the new couple had formed The War and Treaty and started to experience the highs and lows of a music career. Over the years, their sound evolved, carrying them through to recognition worthy of securing great opening slots for the likes of John Legend, Al Green and Brandi Carlile.

Despite the pandemic pausing their progress, Michael still suffering from PTSD and Tanya getting heavily ill from Covid - which continues to affect her vision and energy – the War and Treaty are anything but quitters. Instead they became stronger, lauded by the Grand Ole Opry, the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Americana Music Association, who made The War and Treaty their 2022 Duo/Group of the Year.

Now they have a new, major label album, Lover’s Game, produced by none other than Dave Cobb, a headlining tour and plans to conquer the world with buckets of charm and harmonies. Just listen to the hugely soulful ‘Have You A Heart’ and the sweeping drama of ‘Blank Page’. Or hear their country side on ‘Yesterday’s Burn’ where Michael channels his idol, Kenny Rogers, and ‘That’s How Love Is Made’ which they’d have loved Dottie West and Kenny to have duetted on.

We spoke to the genial and self-deprecating Tanya and Michael from their Tennessee home, and on the eve of this latest part of their journey, to delve deep into how they work, why they’ve chosen this genre, and what makes them tick…

How did you get paired with the amazing Dave Cobb as your producer on your new album?

Michael: We’ve known each other since about 2017. We’ve always threatened to work together, and Universal provided the opportunity to make that threat a reality. I’m so grateful that they did. To work with Dave is so much fun, and we actually ate more than we worked. That’s the honest to God truth. His wife is a wonderful cook and we ate tapas one night and spaghetti another night. We just ate a lot of food and really enjoyed each other’s company.

Aside from that, we were there for him. Dave lost his mom last year and we didn’t care any more about the music. It was all about Dave Cobb the person and not the producer. We were able to see another side of him, and that allowed Tanya and I to fall more in love with Dave and vice versa for him. We are friends and we take care of one another.

Tanya: Dave encouraged us to trust ourselves; that what we already were doing is what we should do in the studio. We try not to make things perfect because nothing is perfect, no-one’s perfect and he kind of had the same approach. He just said get in there and do what you guys gotta do, then walked out the room.

‘Angel’ is a song about love entwined with religion, and I wonder if you’re both at the same place in your faith?

Tanya: We are on the same wavelength of what we believe. Our faith is the compass to take us where we go, we pray together, cry together, we have dreams together, manifest things together. So we believe the same things and that’s a big part of why we’re able to move forward as a couple and a unit. People see the unity first and feel our faith.

What were your roles in writing the songs on this album, like ‘Ain’t No Harmin’ Me’?

Tanya: Michael is definitely better with melody and lyrics, because he gets everything at the same time. I’m inspired much slower than Michael – for every song I write he’s already written 10. Then he comes to me and says what you think about this song I wrote? And I hear something that needs to change and we’ll come to an agreement to keep it like it is or change it.

He’s prolific. He probably wrote more than 100 songs during the pandemic. I stopped counting! Our music director was laughing the other day because he has over 750 songs in his database from Michael, and only he’s been our music director for five years. We’ve been married for 12 years so just imagine the songs I have in my head!

What’s been your biggest challenge, personally and as a duo?

Tanya: Early on we had to get on the same page about where we wanted to go musically. Then we somehow just stumbled into Americana – we didn’t even know it was a genre, we were trying out different things we loved and hearing our voices on different things.

The challenge – the beauty of what we do – is where I feel limited with my vocals and my voice, Michael picks up and takes it even further. It’s the same with him, and we finish each other’s sentences for lack of a better way of explaining it, that’s what we’ve done for each other.

Maybe Americana was tailor-made for you – this all-encompassing, multi-style genre?

Michael: I prefer to not be boxed in! I love being all over the place, I’m all over the place anyway. I’m all over the place in my marriage, in my finances. One day I’m broke, the next day I’ve got money. As long as they get my name right I don’t care!”.

I will come to a review of Lover’s Game soon. Before that, there is another interview worth bringing in. Country Now spoke with The War and Treaty about their journey to their new album. Not only is their music career extraordinary and inspiring. Where Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter started and how they found one another. It is no wonder there is something cinematic about their finding one another. You can feel and hear their experiences, struggle and sense of discovery through their music. Putting so much of their own story and lives into every note. Such power and beauty from their voices:

“Lover’s Game was produced by Dave Cobb in his Savannah home studio and marks their first major-label release under Mercury Nashville. The War and Treaty spent time sifting through over 100 songs that they had written within the last two years, before landing on the final 10-song track listing for Lover’s Game.

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Ahead of the official release, fans got a glimpse into the project with songs like “That’s How Love Is Made,” “Ain’t No Harmin’ Me,” “Blank Page,” “Dumb Luck,” and the soaring title track, “Lover’s Game.”

The infectious melody of the title track sets the tone for the authenticity that follows in the rest of the chapters. The couple revealed that the inspiration for the beginning line of the chorus actually stems from an essential part of their recording process.

“Margarita, hot chicken, strawberry wine / Looking for your lovin’ to be mine, all mine,” they sing.

“We recorded the record in Savannah, Georgia, and we didn’t have like that ‘margarita hot chicken, strawberry wine’ line. So Dave Cobb, who fed us to death while we recorded this record, he threw that in there,” Tanya explained. “I never had hot chicken before, so when we were doing it, I was like, I gotta be authentic. I need to go and find a place with some hot chicken. So, you know, I went and got some hot chicken and it’s just an ode to Nashville and our experience here. It was just a lot of fun recording that record, too.”

While discussing their path in life that led them to create such a stunning list of new songs to add to their catalog, the pair opened up about the beginnings of their love story. When they first met, they were both homeless and jumping from place to place among many different people until they landed in Richmond, VA.

“We were living in a transitional house. We didn’t realize that next door, it was a transitional house that we were sharing and we were on food stamps, you know, we had our little baby with us and this is probably not even five years ago…maybe seven years ago,” Tanya explained. “So when I think about it, it doesn’t seem that far removed, you know, from my thinking now. I get up every morning when I’m home and I go out on the back of our porch and I’m just reminded of how good God is, how good it is to be able to have the strength to get up every day and be resilient and just be reminded of this gift that we have. It’s a gift, and it’s not for us, you know, it’s to be given to everyone that listens to it”.

I will finish off with Saving Country Music’s review of the extraordinary Lover’s Game. It is an album from last year that got a love of love, yet I don’t think it was shared and discussed as much as it should be. If you have not heard the album then make sure you do. I guarantee that it will stay in your mind long after you have heard the final song:

“Though well-beloved by elements of the Americana community for years, and the Opry faithful from having proven their prowess in the circle so many times, The War and Treaty has heretofore struggled to find an audience beyond niche programming. The hope was pairing the duo with producer Dave Cobb and exploring all of their influences in a more diverse and robust manner may result in the wider audience The War and Treaty’s talent undeniable deserves by capturing the electricity of what they do live. Lover’s Game just might pull that off.

The album starts off with the braying guitars and upbeat tempo of “Lover’s Game,” which gives the album an immediacy and Southern rock flair to suck you right in. “Ain’t No Harmin’ Me” is one of a host of Gospel entries from the album, but one that is far from preachy, and combines the spirit of blues and Rick Rubin-era Johnny Cash for an enthralling experience. If you want to hear what The War and Treaty are capable of when they let their country influences come to the forefront, get a load of “Yesterday’s Burn”—a song that went viral when they first performed it on the Opry.

One challenge for really all married singing duos is how sometimes songs where they stare lovingly into each other’s eyes and coo affectionately can take on a very sappy, Captain & Tennille vibe if you’re not careful. There are a couple of moments like that on this album, like the falsetto-laden “The Best That I Have” with its mom rock vibes, complete with a Golden Girls reference. Where the first half of the album shows a lot of great energy and diversity in sound, the second half defaults into the duo’s comfort zone, and may challenge the attentiveness of the audience.

What never gives out though, and makes Lover’s Game engaging throughout is the personal nature of the material. This album feels like the lives of Michael and Tanya Trotter set to music. This even includes “Dumb Luck,” which surprisingly is one of the few tracks not written by the duo, but by producer/songwriter Beau Bedford, despite feeling outright autobiographical to them, making references to Opry performances.

And most importantly of course, The War and Treaty is one of those duos that could sing the phone book, and blow the crowd out of their seats. But in this day an age of ever-present singing competitions and Chris Stapleton, this isn’t entirely novel. Marrying their voices with songs that can resonate beyond the enchantment of the performances themselves and appeal to broader parts of the country and roots world is what makes Lover’s Game feel like such an important work.

Country music has always been, and will always be a push and pull of both yearning for purity in the genre, while also wanting to be inviting to a wide sphere of influences and perspectives. The War and Treaty is just the kind of diversity country music needs—one with roots in the genre from the Gospel and blues influences in their sound, respect for country’s origins and institutions, while also instilling a level of talent that is frankly unparalleled by peers, and perfect for proving why being too rigid with genre borders can result in the loss of valuable voices.

No matter what you call them, The War & Treaty belong. And if the rest of the musical world is too busy to invite them into the fold, country music should be more than happy to have them”.

I am going to finish up now. The incredible The War and Treaty have just received GRAMMY acknowledgment and are set to have one of their biggest years yet. Go and follow this amazing duo. Last year, The War and Treaty became the first Black duo to be nominated for the Country Music Association Award for Duo of the Year. They were also the first bBlack duo to be nominated for the Academy of Country Music Award for Duo of the Year. I am looking forward to seeing the upcoming biopic about the GRAMMY-nominated duo’s story. If you are not following them already, do make sure that you add this wonderful name…