The War and Treaty took Stagecoach to church during Sunday afternoon set

When Michael Trotter Jr. of the country-gospel musical duo The War and Treaty asked the question "Can we take you to church on Sunday?" while performing on the Mane Stage at the final day of Stagecoach country music festival, the crowd's response was a figurative "yes" by the cheers.

There wasn't a better act at Stagecoach than Trotter and his wife Tanya backed by band featuring virtuosos of the fiddle, banjo, pedal steel, electric guitar and a consummate drummer to perform an uplifting and spiritual set of gospel fused country (sorry, Eric Church).

Since The War and Tready's 2018 debut album "Healing Tide," the Black duo has received accolades from the Christian and country music audiences. The Trotters have shared stages with several country stars such as Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell, Brothers Osborne and more. With all the accolades, here's a question to Beyoncé: Were The War and Treaty even considered for "Cowboy Carter?"

Despite the heat, Tanya was covered in an elegant red gown and Michael's black denim vest had "Hate Free" in red on the back, even walked down the catwalk into the crowd a few times. Two highlights from the 30-minute set were "Take Me In" and the last song "Steal A Kiss," the latter was less of a gospel song and felt more like a '70s soul song with some country flavor.

But what's Stagecoach without a heartfelt display of patriotism? Trotter paid tribute to the late Toby Keith and also asked how many veterans were in the crowd, and several hands and cowboy hats were raised in the air before the Trotters sang the "Star-Spangled Banner," and many were standing with their hats in the air or over their chest with heads bowed as the couple sang.

Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @bblueskye.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Stagecoach: The War and Treaty review