When Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Blount met 15 years ago as performers on the bill for Maryland’s Love Festival, they began a journey neither really saw coming.
She was a dream-deferred R&B singer who mistakenly believed she had crested musically in the ’90s with her sole Polydor album, “Natural Thing,” and a guest spot alongside Lauryn Hill in “Sister Act 2.” And he was an Army veteran fresh off two tours of duty in Iraq, struggling with PTSD while pouring his heart into music.
Yet, fate had its way that day at the Love Festival. The pair eventually married, becoming partners in life as well as music and setting the stage for what would become the now invincible husband-and-wife duo behind The War and Treaty. They perform this weekend in Tinley Park, opening for singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton.
“[Michael] really sparked something in me when I saw him perform. There was a level of passion that I, as an artist, no longer had,” Tanya Trotter confessed in a recent interview from the couple’s now-adopted home of Nashville. They live there with four children, some of whom take part in the family business, including a daughter who works as the band’s merch manager, and their youngest son, whom they describe as their biggest critic. (Tanya also has roots in Chicago, including a grandmother who once lived in Oak Park and several cousins that still call the city home.)
“When I saw [Michael’s] passion, I was just overwhelmed by the talent, but also the lyrics to the songs that I heard,” Tanya added. “I had to connect with him, not just musically, but as a human being. You really can’t write that deep and not be in touch with your own humanity, you know?”
It’s a gift Michael found in the most difficult of times, while in combat in Iraq. Remarkably, he taught himself how to play music on Saddam Hussein’s personal piano as his unit was stationed in one of the dictator’s palaces. The first song he ever played on the instrument was “Lean on Me” by Bill Withers.
“I think that those worlds [music and war] meet where there’s tragedy. And I found tranquility and tragedy through music,” Michael said. With Tanya, it’s one of the themes the pair has explored with incredible conviction on songs such as the harrowing “Five More Minutes,” released in 2020, detailing a time when, at the height of his PTSD battle, Michael thought of ending his life.
To date, the Trotters have released five albums (the most recent, “Plus One,” appropriately launched this past Valentine’s Day), all tied by a sound representative of the American diaspora, one that’s a little bit country and a whole lot of soul, gospel and folk. It’s a mix heard on the gripping early work “Down to the River” all the way through to their latest harmonizer, “Feels Like Home.”
And from nearly the beginning, The War and Treaty has been heralded by all corners of the music industry, leading the couple to lay stake at the hallowed Grand Ole Opry on multiple occasions, while receiving co-signs from artists like Emmylou Harris, Billy Strings, the Rolling Stones and Stapleton. They have become the first Black duo ever nominated for country music’s esteemed ACM and CMA Awards at a time that the genre grapples with inclusivity.
The Trotters have not been immune to the backlash that fellow Black artists such as Beyoncé have faced, the latter when releasing “Cowboy Carter” in 2024. For the Trotters, that vitriol especially picked up last year when they teamed with Bon Jovi on the song “The People’s House,” endorsing then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
“That’s what this is all about though. If we are the land of the free and the home of the brave, then see me. Allow me to freely create what I want to create,” said Michael. “Nobody told Morgan Wallen that he can’t mix R&B with country because he’s white.”
Still, Michael added, “We get those comments … from ignorant people that claim to be country music fans. And they’re just fans of their own disdain. Anybody who is pure and wants to do some good, there’s always going to be a group of haters. But I believe that we’re doing a good job and just being authentically who we are. And that’s just the truth about it.”
“But I think that’s the beautiful thing about being an artist,” added Tanya. “You find your tribe.”
If the Trotters’ journey sounds like something you might see in the movies, well, it soon will be. A biopic has been in the works for six years now, led by John Legend’s Get Lifted Films and “La La Land” producer Gary Gilbert, with Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. acting as music supervisor. Though the couple can’t say too much about it yet, other than the script has been written and the film is currently being cast, there is one message they really hope to impart in the film.
“I think it’s important for people to really see a love story. They don’t really see too many love stories that come from people that look like Michael and I. And it’s an American story. You know, he served our country and he made the ultimate sacrifice,” Tanya said.
“I think it’s important, especially now, for people to not be jaded by the fact that love still conquers all,” she added. “I know a lot of us are living in a state of fear, but love is really the thread that keeps us all together, and just like other times we’ve gotten through it, we’ll get through it again.”