The War and Treaty Brings Diverse, Soulful Sound to the Stephen Talkhouse

Johnny and June Cash. Paul and Linda McCartney. Jack and Meg White. These are just some of the best and most iconic husband-and-wife musical duos. But a couple that’s quickly rising toward the top of that list is Tanya and Michael Trotter of The War and Treaty.

Founded in 2014 by the Trotters, The War and Treaty are a group that defies musical boundaries. Their music consists of a diverse blend of soul, Americana, gospel, blues and country, all of which are blended into a warm blanket of sound that embraces the listeners. The duo have experienced their most success over the last three years as they’ve broken into the Nashville scene and the country circuit.

Now, they’ll be bringing their dynamic sound for an intimate evening at the Stephen Talkhouse on Friday, April 4, at 8 p.m.

Tanya and Michael first met at the Spirit of Love Festival in Maryland in 2010. They fell for each other quickly and got married six months later, but they didn’t start making music together right away. Their musical collaboration began when Tanya was making an album with her brother and Michael came in to try out some vocals. From there, the two started learning how to sing together, where they took a unique approach to develop their harmonies.

“Early on, I would go to one side of the room and turn my back on her and she would go to the other side and turn her back on me, and we would literally sing and try to find where each other was going,” said Michael in a recent phone interview. “They were fun little exercises that we would do to hone in listening.”

This approach paid off, as most of the duo’s songs feature the two trading verses and lines with each other, and then joining in beautiful harmony. Michael also added that their vocal blend is “a testament to our love and our marriage, we really do try to listen to each other.”

Their songwriting process is markedly different, as most of the ideas come from Michael. He joked that “I come up with the idea, then Tanya does everything she can to tear it down.” Tanya laughed and elaborated on this.

“It’s about not having an ego with it,” she said. “You want the best songs and nine times out of 10, Michael wrote the best song.”

Something that’s apparent about the couple in everything that they do is the deep affection they hold for each other. During their recent interview, there was a clear sense of loving in their eyes and hearts. Sometimes, this can make the writing process difficult, but the two balance each other out.

“When you have a partner like that, you can write too royal or with too much fantasy,” Michael explained. “So she often brings reality in the picture, she says ‘bring it right to where the listener can understand.’”

As musical collaborators and romantic partners, there’s plenty of overlap between these two sides of their relationship. But they also make sure that music isn’t the only thing keeping them together, with Tanya emphasizing the importance of “mutual respect for each other’s space” at times where one of them wants to tune out from music.

“It’s about being sensitive to the moments and those moments can happen at any time,” she said. “And you trust each other and love each other enough to know that when it’s time to watch a movie, let’s watch a movie. And if we want to listen to music, great. If we don’t want to listen to it, that’s great too.”

The duo released their debut album “Healing Tide” in 2018 and in 2020 released the song “Five More Minutes,” which featured country rock icon Emmylou Harris. But the Trotters have experienced their greatest success over the past three years, which started when they signed with UMG Nashville in 2022. Michael credited Cindy Mabe, the label’s CEO, as their “champion.”

“The day she was let go was the day the life went out of that building for Tanya and I,” he said. “She’s someone who we love dearly. She went to bat for The War and Treaty and took a big chance on us. And all the way to the day she was walked out of the building, she made it clear to Tanya and I that she believes wholeheartedly in us.”

Another big moment for the pair came in 2023 when they were featured on the Zach Bryan song “Hey Driver.” The Trotters met him at the 2023 Academy of Country Music Awards, where Bryan came up to them and told them he got chills from their performance. A few days later, he sent them the song and asked if they could add vocals to it, which they happily did.

The Trotters also went on tour with Chris Stapleton in 2023 as one of his opening acts. It was a daunting task, they said, but Tanya noted that Stapleton and his wife made them feel right at home.

“The Stapletons are family, they’ve opened their arms to us,” she said. “I think the beauty of having peers like him is what the music industry is all about.”

One of the highlights of their time with Stapleton was at a show in Toronto in August 2023. The opening acts weren’t able to perform because of bad weather, so Stapleton invited the duo to come up and sing “Tennessee Whiskey” with him, where they were greeted by a larger crowd than usual.

“Usually when you’re performing as an opener, all the fans aren’t necessarily there, but all the fans were there for Chris, so it was packed and people were ready to party,” Tanya recalled. “We came out and sang that with him and it was a moment. It went viral and that was crazy.”

Because of their recent success, the group was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2024 Grammys alongside names like Noah Kahan, Jelly Roll and Gracie Abrams. Though The War and Treaty has been around for a decade, Tanya said that “we’ll take it, we’re new to somebody.”

The duo released their latest studio album, “Plus One,” in February. The record features them incorporating country more into their sound, but most importantly continuing the genre-blending approach that has defined their sound.

“This is just an extension of what we’ve always done, we don’t believe in putting ourselves in a box,” said Tanya. “What would it sound like if you had gospel singers do a song with a bluegrass player like Billy Strings? And so, you don’t have to guess, you can listen to our record.”

At the heart of The War and Treaty’s music, especially “Plus One,” is an effort to “bridge the divide” between musical styles, bringing fans of multiple genres together in a musical melting pot, something that their music has done successfully so far.

“Our music is about bringing people together, and that’s not just physically but also musically, and that’s what we’ve done with this record. I’m very happy that it’s been welcomed by our fans and our new supporters in such a great way and as an invitation to let people know that they’re not alone.”

The War and Treaty perform at the Stephen Talkhouse on Friday, April 4, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $160 at stephentalkhouse.com. The Stephen Talkhouse is at 161 Main Street in Amagansett.