In the past few years, the uplifting husband-and-wife vocal duo the War and Treaty started showing up everywhere. Since signing a major-label record deal in 2022, Michael and Tanya Trotter — known for their blend of rootsy R&B and country gospel — have become mainstays at awards shows, performed at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in November, and earned high-profile duetting slots with everyone from Zach Bryan to Ringo Starr.
Before starting the band, Michael served in Iraq and began playing piano in one of Saddam Hussein’s abandoned palaces. Tanya, meanwhile, came up as a Nineties R&B singer whose solo career never quite took off. Both struggled with severe mental-health issues but have flourished in their partnership since meeting at a music festival, getting married and forming the War and Treaty. If their backstory feels like the stuff of Hollywood, that’s because it is: A feature-length film based on their lives is in the works.
Their new album, Plus One, represents the group’s first full-fledged attempt at carving a space in mainstream country music. Tunes that reference country roads and chugging double shots of whiskey sit alongside the duo’s trademark message of fostering hope and connection. “We knew that Nashville had something to offer us,” says Michael, “but we also knew that we’ve got something to offer Nashville.”
You co-wrote with Miranda Lambert for this album. What was that like?
Tanya: She’s really a genius. I don’t think people know the magnitude of her as a vocal producer.
Michael: I was trying to get something done on my end, and I called her for advice. I wanted to know what I should be expecting earlier on our journey with Universal, our label. And she’s like, “Remember who you are! Put your foot down. Grab a pair! Be who you are, and remember why they signed you.” I was like, “Holy shit, yes, Miranda. You got it.”
Still, the majority of the songs are written exclusively by you two, which is rare in mainstream country.
Michael: We wanted to make sure that Nashville knew that we weren’t hands off. We spent the time, we’ve been in the bars and the dives, and we spent our time doing some line dancing down at the Nashville Palace. We’ve eaten at [Lambert’s Broadway honky-tonk] Casa Rosa’s; we’ve frequented the Opry, we’ve frequented the Ryman, and gone to the museums. We’re in the culture of Nashville, and writing with these writers, who help create the soundtrack to the culture of Nashville, was a dream come true to us. But we also realized that we had a lot to say, and we had a lot to say that only we could say.
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Some of your new songs feel like they could exist on country radio. Is that a specific goal?
Tanya: If you’re going to be in larger conversations, you have to try your hand at having something that a listener that listens to a Morgan Wallen or a Luke Combs or a Chris Stapleton can hear your music and say “I hear them coming right behind a Chris Stapleton on radio.” That’s not your end goal, but I think
it is a goal.
Michael, a few years ago you said you didn’t want the War and Treaty to only be known as “the kumbaya cats.” Do you still feel that way?
Michael: We are more hopeful in our human race than the normal guy or gal. I remember there was a period where we were trying to get people to say, “Look, we are one. Don’t play into division,” and there were people who were angry with me and Tanya about that. They were like, “You’re Black. This is the moment where you should be pissed the fuck off.” But what they don’t realize is, when I raised my hand to serve this country, I took off the cloak of “Black man” and I put on the cloak of “Army, protecting my country, protecting all of us.” So the first feeling I feel is hurt, not anger, when I see police brutality. Hurt, not anger, when I see racial disparity or pain. That don’t make me a kumbaya guy. I have to be careful with my anger, because my anger is something different. Anger, for me, is fuel; it makes me look for an enemy. And when I find the enemy, I am trained to seek and destroy. It’s more beneficial for me to follow my mentor, when he stood in the courtyard in Alabama, and he held the hands of my wife and my son. His name was John Lewis, and he said, “We are stronger together as brothers and sisters.”
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So, yes, this isn’t going away anytime soon. I am not, and neither is my wife, kumbaya people. This is our choice. We choose to point people to a better America, and a better world.
What you just articulated speaks to the layers of expectations placed upon Black performers, in particular.
Michael: Me and Tanya, we were in a pivotal moment in history where we came out and supported the Democratic candidate, which is something I never really do because of my position as a veteran. This election, it felt like there was a calling to make a stand, and we did. A lot of people felt heard by that, and there were a lot of people who felt betrayed, like we weren’t hearing them. The power of your celebrity is to stand in the middle of the road and hold your arms out and find a way to pull your brothers and your sisters together.
So you felt, after the fact, that endorsing Kamala Harris worked against the message the War and Treaty stand for?
Michael: I think it did work against it. Whether we came out for her or President Trump, what we learned is everyone is feeling like they aren’t being heard. We want to be a bridge, and a beacon, and a balm for healing. There’s a way to go through your career being a unifier rather than a divider.
You’ve collaborated with all sorts of artists recently: Zach Bryan, Reneé Rapp, Bon Jovi, Post Malone. Is introducing the War and Treaty to new audiences a big part of your overall project?
Tanya: In some of those moments, you don’t even know why you’re there. For me, this year it’s all about knowing why you’re there and being deliberate in your presence. Don’t do something just because you’re asked to do it. There has to be some kind of vision.… As you’re building, you don’t think about where you’re putting the brick, you’re just building. It’s important to know, even as you’re still growing as a band, “Even though this looks great and may be a great opportunity, we’re going to say no here.” This year, we’ve really grown into really saying no.
The War and Treaty have been clear about their mission since day one: inclusion and hope, and bridge building, as Michael put it. Does that statement feel the same as when you first started, or has it evolved?
Tanya: I’ve had to evolve, because my neurological system cannot handle the level of hate and divisiveness. It’s been a serious self-check for me to say “I’m going to pursue peace at all costs.” I don’t think you can, in a healthy way, stay in that toxic environment. Some people thrive in that environment: They’re looking for the fight. That’s not who I am. You can put a message out there that you want hope and unity, and what happens is, it’s challenged because the other side says “The only way to really know if you’re a person of peace is to be challenged with hate.” I’ve gotten to a point where I really still believe in this message, but I’m no longer going to put myself in an environment that consistently challenges my message. That’s just me.
Michael: I differ, of course. I feel like that message has gotten stronger in me. My desire is stronger for us, even in just this country, to heal, and to talk, and to shake each other’s hands. I don’t give any credence to the ignorant things that don’t serve. I pay attention to who is right in front of my face. I want that person to know that they are loved, that they are wanted, and that they are needed in my life. As long as I’m living like that, I’m following the mission and purpose that I’ve been in service to. To me, that’s healing.
