The war and the contract – from homelessness to the role of Gillette

When they started performing together, Michael and Tanya Trotter didn’t have a home, a reliable vehicle, or the kind of music career that could finance their new baby. What they did have was a lot of love, trust, original songs, and a 20-page business plan.

That plan seems to have worked. As The War and Treaty, the Trotters have been nominated for Grammys, CMAs and ACMs and are late-night TV and award show favorites. They’re a frequent fixture at roots music events, like the Prescott Park Arts Festival in Portsmouth, NH, where they headlined Monday. And this summer, they’re taking part in two stadium tours: Last week, they opened for the Rolling Stones, and on Wednesday, they’ll do the same for Zach Bryan at Gillette Stadium. And they’ve done it by singing a harmonious blend of gospel, country, soul, folk and blues that’s easy to love but hard to pigeonhole.

Music had been a part of their lives since before they met. Michael, who grew up in a homeless shelter, served two tours in Iraq, where he began writing memorials to his fellow soldiers who had lost their lives in the line of duty. He learned to play the piano when he found one in the basement of a palace that had once belonged to Saddam Hussein. Tanya Blount was featured on “Sister Act 2,” singing a duet with Lauryn Hill, and had released one well-received album before signing to Sean “Puffy” Combs’ Bad Boy label, but her career had stalled.

After releasing a contemporary gospel and R&B album as Trotter & Blount, the pair began exploring other musical avenues. “I didn’t even know Americana existed,” Tanya says in a Zoom call a day after the duo performed at Macy’s Fourth of July fireworks show.

She says they paid special attention to three groups in their plan: The Carolina Chocolate Drops, who explored the black roots of country music; The Lone Bellow, whose energy Tanya compares to that of a gospel revival god; and The Civil Wars, another male-female duo who, according to Tanya, “created an intimacy with their voices—it was like floating on water. And when they split up to sing different notes, they sounded like one, even when they weren’t looking at each other.”

The Trotters initially spent six hours a day practicing this kind of vocal intimacy. And their lyrics are just as intimate. One of their songs, “Five More Minutes,” was written in a moment when Michael, who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder from his military service, was considering suicide and Tanya was begging him for five more minutes until help arrived.

In addition to touring with country superstar Bryan, The War and Treaty feature on his song “Hey Driver,” a nostalgic look at life in the South. The two bands first met when they were part of Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival. After another meeting at an awards show, Bryan texted the Trotters the song outline and asked them to send a voice memo of the chorus. Bryan posted it on social media, not knowing that The War & Treaty had their own record deal. “We were like, ‘You’ve got to take this down, bro,'” laughs Michael. An authorized studio recording was quickly made, featuring the Trotters’ vocals and Michael’s piano playing, and it went platinum.

Despite this connection to the headliner, The War and Treaty know that the role of opening act at a stadium show brings its own challenges.

“It’s still scary,” says Michael. “The reality is they’re not there for you. They don’t know you. But you have the opportunity to introduce yourself and let them know they’re there for something they didn’t even know they were there for. So what happens is we create our own reality and walk onto that stage like it’s ours – because it is, for 45 minutes.”

Although The War and Treaty have performed at major country awards shows and toured, they show no sign of sacrificing their traditional sound for the sake of play on country radio. Lyrics to a single released last month, “I Called You By Your Name,” include references to the Old Testament, a wildly plucked banjo and a trumpet reminiscent of early New Orleans jazz and gospel shout bands.

Michael laments that modern country music seems to be made mostly for people who “don’t want to think.” He says the song, which is about finding hope in life’s darkest moments, is “for country music fans who miss the good old days when you loved the story, the songs and the message.” Of the music, he says, “This song contains a history lesson that is missing from our country’s history books, and that is that there is a fine line between bluegrass music and shout music in a black gospel church.”

The Trotters are well aware that they are spreading a sound of unity and hope at a time when society is divided and many are in need. “We have always taken the place of love and it’s not always easy to take that stand,” says Tanya. “But people need to know that love is the only feeling that lasts in the long run.”

You can reach Noah Schaffer at [email protected].

THE WAR AND THE TREATY

Supporting act for Zach Bryan at Gillette StadiumFoxborough, Wednesday, July 17 at 7:00 p.m.