Culture
War and Treaty chat Austin City Limits return, Americana Honors acclaim, opening for Rolling Stones
By: Ian Saint
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WOUB) — The War and Treaty are a married couple, acclaimed for their fusion of rock, soul, and country music — culminating in collaborations from Zach Bryan to Bon Jovi — and in November, PBS viewers have ample opportunity to witness their impassioned marriage of genres firsthand.
On Saturday, PBS premieres The War and Treaty’s performance at Austin City Limits’ 50th Anniversary, alongside Jelly Roll — who famously hops genres, from rap to country, as well. WOUB station 20.5, The Ohio Channel, will also air The War and Treaty’s Recorded Live At Analog installment at midnight on Saturday, November 9.
The War and Treaty were nominated for Duo/Group of the Year at the 2024 Americana Music Honors & Awards — an award they won in both 2022 and 2023 — and they performed I’ll Come Running for the first time during the ceremony, which was taped in Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium. PBS airs ACL Presents: 23rd Annual Americana Honors on Saturday, November 23.
Wife Tanya (née Blount) and husband Michael Trotter had distinctive careers prior to teaming up in the last decade. Tanya performed His Eye Is On the Sparrow in 1993’s blockbuster Sister Act 2, alongside Lauryn Hill, before releasing 1994 R&B album Natural Thing — which yielded several Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs entries.
Michael is an Army combat veteran, who first began playing piano in the basement of Saddam Hussein’s private residence at the encouragement of his commanding office, Captain Robert Scheetz. When Captain Scheetz was killed on a mission shortly afterwards, Trotter wrote his first song and performed it at his memorial. The War and Treaty have since performed at several U.S. military bases.
After a handful of independent releases — the first album billed as The War and Treaty was 2018’s Healing Tide, distributed by Thirty Tigers — the duo signed with UMG Nashville, and released major-label debut album Lover’s Game last year. They went on to become the first Black duo nominated for Duo Of The Year at both the CMA and ACM Awards.
The War and Treaty spoke with WOUB’s Ian Saint during the Americana Music Honors’ Red Carpet ceremony, at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, prior to the show. A transcript of their conversation, edited for length and clarity, is below.
The War and Treaty started in Albion, Michigan; but Tanya hails from DC. Michael, is it true that you’re from Ohio?
Michael:
Yes, I’m from Cleveland. We (War and Treaty) claim Michigan; but I was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. East Side, baby.
You won last year’s Duo/Group of the Year Award, presented by William Bell and John Oates. Given Hall & Oates’ prominence as a duo, how did you two process John’s presentation?
Michael:
Oh, my God…
Tanya:
He was part of one of the best duos of all time. When you think about that… (pause) It doesn’t get any bigger than that, to see people that you’ve looked up to turn around and honor you — or even announce you — so that was an honor.
Michael:
Yeah. Ditto what she said.
How did your performance for Austin City Limits’ 50th anniversary compare to your first ACL appearance, in 2021?
Michael:
The first time we did it was in the pandemic; there were, like, 50 people in the building for that. I was like, “ah, this is cool, but we’re being cheated a little bit.” They agreed, and wanted us to come back — and this is a wonderful season to be a part of. We’re so excited to be able to see it, too; we haven’t seen it ourselves.
You opened for The Rolling Stones, at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, this summer.
Tanya:
That stadium was frightening. We got to meet a few of the icons, and it was a pleasure to be able to meet them. One of the things I took from Ronnie Wood is that he was so excited about the show, and he was nervous. I’m like, “you are the Rolling Stones! And you’re nervous?” But that gave me a sense of what it feels like to keep that joy and excitement for almost 50 years — you have to keep that, in order to keep going.
Michael:
That was the largest stadium we’ve ever done.
Pink Floyd’s The Wall was infamously inspired by Roger Waters’ disdain for playing stadiums. He felt they were too crowded, and the sound quality is inferior to smaller venues. How does the stadium experience compare to playing a venue like ACL Live at The Moody Theatre, which we’ll see on November 3?
Tanya:
I’ll never be unhappy playing in front of that many people, let me just say that now. I mean, I think there’s beauty and excitement about playing for a smaller audience — but you ask for these things when you’re an artist, you want to go as big as you can. But you don’t know what you like until you get there, so I’m hoping that we can get there (a stadium tour).
Michael:
I understand what that legend (Roger Waters) was saying. I kind of agree; there’s so many other things, from a technical side, to worry about. It’s not about just the (number of) fans; it’s making the fans get the best experience possible, and (it’s frustrating) when you get sound (issues) that you can’t control. And then not being able to touch people up front, when it was a big part of how an artist thrives on stage — especially when their live show is so built for the people. So, I get that.
To what Tanya said: some artists ask for that (“go as big as you can”), but some artists don’t ask for that and it just happens. My good buddy, Zach Bryan, is one of those artists. He didn’t say, “I’m going to write this song and hit stadiums”; no, he wrote songs and his biggest aspirations was to do them in bars, and boom. So I get (what Waters alluded to).
Michael, what’s your favorite venue in your hometown of Cleveland?
Michael:
Severance Hall. I saw the Cleveland Orchestra there when I was a little kid.
Austin City Limits: Jelly Roll / The War and Treaty airs on PBS Saturday at 10 p.m. EST. ACL Presents: 23rd Annual Americana Honors airs on PBS on Saturday, November 23 at 10 p.m. EST. WOUB-TV airs Recorded Live at Analog: The War and Treaty on station 20.5, The Ohio Channel, on Saturday, November 9 at 12 AM EST.