New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The War and Treaty were featured on Saturday's edition of NPR's "All Things Considered." Of the husband and wife duo,Michael Trotter Jr. and
Tanya Blount-Trotter, host Michel
Martin declares, "If you are planning to see any live music this summer, we are told that our next guests are the ones to see."
The interview comes in advance of the duo's anticipated, full-length debut album,Healing Tide, which will be released August 10 on Strong World/Thirty Tigers and is now available for pre-order. In advance of the release, the album's title track recently premiered, of which Rolling Stone praises, "...joyfully relentless...reminiscent of classic Ike and
Tina Turner rock-infused soul."
Healing Tide was produced by
Buddy Miller (Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Wood Brothers) and was recorded at Miller's home studio over five days in March 2018. It includes 11 songs written solely by Michael and features
Tanya (vocals), Michael (vocals, piano, Wurlitzer, Rhodes) and Miller (guitars, banjo) as well as Brady Blade (drums), Adam Chaffins (bass), Jim Hoke (organ, saxophone, autoharp, harmonica), Russ Pahl (pedal steel, banjo), Sam Bush (fiddle), Bill Huber (trombone), Matt Slocum (cello) and special guest vocalist
Emmylou Harris on "Here Is Where the Loving Is At."
Of the mission behind the album, Michael comments, "I hope people see our hearts on this record...I want people to feel like we care. When you think about artists you don't think about that, but that's the way I want the world to feel about The War and Treaty."
The duo will tour throughout 2018 in support of the album including festival stops at Newport Folk Festival, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Pickathon and Americana Fest among many others. In addition to the festival performances, they will also join the Indigo Girls on a series of dates this summer. See below for complete details.
Michael and
Tanya took distinctly different paths to becoming The War and Treaty.Michael is a wounded warrior who found his voice while serving in Iraq, when he was pulled from the frontlines to write songs for the fallen.
Tanya is a lifelong artist, drawn to singing's power to take another's pain away. The two met while performing at the same festival and became inseparable, going on to get married and create the musical collaboration that is The War and Treaty.
The release of Healing Tide follows a breakout year for the Albion, Michigan-based duo, whose debut EP, Down to the River, came out last July. The War and Treaty made headlines after a breakthrough performance at the 2017 Americana
Music Festival & Conference, stepping up to fill an ill
Buddy Miller's spot. Rolling Stone highlighted the performance in their "AmericanaFest 2017: 20 Best Things We Saw," praising, "Michael Trotter Jr. and
Tanya Blount-Trotter nearly leveled the Cannery Ballroom...Mixing primitive blues, R&B and gospel-style shouting, War & Treaty's songs...were tense and hypnotic, shrouded in darkness but punching their way to the light." Additionally,Billboard featured the duo as one of "The 10 Bands You Need to Know About for This Year's Festival Season" declaring, "two talents whose chemistry in the live setting is raw, joyous and spectacular. Both Trotter and Blount are propulsive singers, and their band seamlessly blends bluegrass, folk, gospel and soul."
