Who is The War and Treaty? Married duo bring soul to Grammys' best new artist category
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This year's Grammys best new artist race features musicians from a number of different genres: Gracie Abrams embraces the pop, Ice Spice is a rapper, Coco Jones has R&B on lock. But The War and Treaty goes for the blender approach, bringing together soul, gospel, blues, rock, folk and country.
And the fact that married duo Tanya Trotter and Michael Trotter Jr. also have a heartfelt origin tale to go along with their eclectic style makes them a crowd-pleasing story going into Sunday's Grammy Awards. The War and Treaty released the pair's major label debut "Lover's Game" last March, and since then the Trotters became the first Black musicians to be nominated for duo of the year at the Country Music Association Awards and Academy of Country Music Awards. At the Grammys, in addition to their best new artist nomination, The War and Treaty also is nominated in the best American roots song category with "Blank Page."
Here's what new fans and Grammy watchers need to know about The War and Treaty:
How did The War and Treaty get started?
They may be in the category but neither of the Trotters are exactly "new artists." They've been a duo for 10 years, with four albums (and a fifth in the works) plus two EPs, and they have a love story very much intwined with their musical history.
Back in 1993, as Tanya Blount, Tanya starred in the comedy "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit" and had a duet with co-star Lauryn Hill on "His Eye is on the Sparrow." She released her debut album "Natural Thing" in 1994 and had a Top 40 R&B single with "Through the Rain." She signed with Sean "Diddy" Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment label two years later, where she recorded a second album that was ultimately shelved. Tanya was years out of the game and working as a worship leader when she met Michael at a Maryland arts festival in 2010. In a 2022 People interview, Michael recalled seeing Tanya on screen in "Sister Act 2" "and I was like, 'That is my wife right there.' "
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Michael was an Army veteran back from his second tour of duty in Iraq then, and he aspired to have a solo singing career. (He was first sent to Iraq in 2003, where he started to write songs and taught himself how to play piano on a black upright that once belonged to Saddam Hussein.) They married in 2011 and three years later, when Michael had written a song for Tanya's brother, they recorded a demo and heard the magic of their harmonies.
The Trotters' inspirational story is even being made into a biopic movie: Michael recently told Variety that a script was already done. "It's an American love story about Black love — a Black couple who falls in love and discovers that there’s a lot of healing that has to take place."
What is the meaning of The War and Treaty?
In a 2019 Jazz.fm interview, Michael talked about how the group's handle came out of an argument he was having with his wife in the middle of changing the duo's name for a seventh time. "In the heat of the battle, she said, 'OK, Michael, this is not a war. Let’s come to some sort of treaty here.' And I immediately said, 'Wait a minute. I think that’s the name.' " The names that came before? Tanya ran down a few of them in 2023 on Bobby Bones' podcast, including Empty Earth, Dear Martha and Trotter and Blount (her maiden name), which "sounds like a law firm."
Who have The War and Treaty toured with?
The War and Treaty has gone on the road with John Legend (the Trotters' 12-year-old son, Legend, was named after him), Al Green, Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell, Lauren Daigle, Van Morrison and Chris Stapleton. The duo is playing dates with him this year as well as summer concerts opening for Zach Bryan, whose song "Hey Driver" from his hit self-titled album last year featured The War and Treaty.
The Trotters' collaborators have been as starry as their touring partners: The War and Treaty teamed with Dierks Bentley for a cover of U2's "Pride (In the Name of Love)" at the 2021 ACM Awards, performed the Rolling Stones classic "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It)" with the Brothers Osborne at the 2022 CMA Awards, and sang "I'll Be There for You" with Charlie Puth during a tribute to late "Friends" star Matthew Perry at the Emmy Awards in early January.
Where have The War and Treaty performed the national anthem?
The Trotters earned praise online and went a viral with their stirring performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" last Thanksgiving at Detroit's Ford Field for a game between the Lions and the Green Bay Packers. It was a homecoming of sorts for The War and Treaty: While the duo's now based in Nashville, they spent their early days together in Albion, Michigan, 87 miles away.
"The beginning of our story isn’t a pretty story. There was a point in time where we were homeless," the couple wrote on X. "But it was our love for each other, and what we created that gave us the heart to push through. It took a village of love and support for us to continue hitting stages and making music. Detroit represents the origin of our story in a lot of ways."
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Grammy Awards: The War and Treaty bring soul to best new artist
