When Beyoncé won the Grammy for best country album in 2025, it was a sign to some that the genre might be becoming more inclusive.
Michael Trotter Jr. had that thought when he and his wife, Tanya — who perform together as The War and Treaty — were nominated in the best new artist category in 2024.
"In these award shows, especially the Grammys, they give slots to genres to represent," he told Morning Edition host Michel Martin. "War and Treaty and Jelly Roll represented country music. Neither entity is the poster child for what a country artist should look and sound like, yet we made such an impact to where country music wanted us to represent them."
The War and Treaty defies the Nashville standard in more ways than one. On their new album, Plus One, they take inspiration from gospel, rock, bluegrass, R&B — the whole album is a love letter to American music. "I grew up listening to Celia Cruz, to Leontyne Price," said Tanya Trotter. "My vocabulary of music led me to getting a classical music scholarship. I could go in and out of genres that I wanted to at any moment. I think that, if you're going to go the professional route, then yes, there are barriers, because industries work with genres. But as an artist and as a creative, you have to do what you want to do."
Michael Trotter Jr. added, "One of the greatest creators who ever lived was Duke Ellington. And when someone interviewed him about him being a jazz musician, he was quickly offended. And he said, 'I am not a jazz musician. I am a musician, I am an artist. Don't box me in.' So I love that."
On their song "Can I Get an Amen?"
Michael Trotter Jr.: "Can I Get an Amen" is just an opportunity to brag on how beautiful and stunning and absolutely fabulous my wife is, inside and out. Anyone who knows her would agree with me. It's about love — for my family, for my country. I talk about "dog tags swinging from my neck" — I am a wounded war veteran. I served our country in the United States Army. It's just a bragging song; we get to kind of pop our collars a little bit.
Michel Martin: As you alluded to, part of that song alludes to your ongoing fight against PTSD. You served in Iraq, and the healing has been part of your music. Why is it such an important theme?
Michael Trotter Jr.: Well, the first thing is: PTSD is something we deal with as a family. So I'm very proud of my wife and our family for that. I'm very proud of my service. But there are some things that came with that, and there are some scars that happened and some bumps and bruises you get along the way. I would not trade it for anything.
Tanya Trotter: With our journey, it's about healing. I think that we heal each other in different ways, whether it's through our love, whether it's through listening, whether it's through comforting each other when we need to be comforted. And we wanted to extend that hand to our fan base, just being vulnerable and letting them know that it's okay.
On their song "Skyscraper"
Michel Martin: It starts with these provocative lyrics: "You said I'll never be nothin'/ You said I ain't got what it takes/ Just a fat man with a fat chance/ But I don't mind eatin' my piece of cake."
Michael Trotter Jr.: When I joined the military, I weighed 197 pounds. When I came home, I was close to 400. That's the weight of depression. That's the weight of trauma. That's the weight of failing. And when I met my wife, I told her I was a failure. I told her I was nothing. I had nothing. She turned around and told me what she saw in me, which caused me to go look in the mirror and realize that I'm only studying the weight, and it's time to let it go.
I'm literally dealing with myself in the first half of this song, and the rest of the song I'm dealing with all the things we are told that we need in order to be accepted. Earlier in our careers, we were told, "Hey, you got to have this many streams and this many views." And I'm just thinking about how ugly our process was, but we're beautiful skyscrapers now. No one knows what it took to create that beautiful skyscraper you see in New York. We only marvel at the end result. We don't pay attention to the process because it hurts, it's ugly, it's dirty. There are some scrapes and scratches and bruises and bleeding, but [in the end] there's a skyscraper, and that's what the song is about.
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