Tanya and Michael Trotter Jr. are the driving force behind the award-winning country band The War and Treaty. They also happen to be husband and wife, having connected after Tanya watched Michael perform in a festival in 2010. Since that fateful encounter, their music has gotten attention and accolades from the Grammy Awards to the Country Music Association.
The War and Treaty will perform at The Englert Theatre on Thursday along with opener and hometown favorite James Tutson.
Fresh off a flight from London after performing in Southampton, Michael and Tanya answered some questions in anticipation of their Iowa City performance.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Do you have a process for how you give and receive artistic feedback to one another?
Tanya: The first thing is it’s rooted in honesty. What we start out and give to each other is honesty. Sometimes I’ll come up with ideas and give them to Michael, but he hears music all the way through. When he gets an idea it’s a complete thought. It’s the music and lyrics and everything together. It’s a different process for him. I’ll have him interject a lot more in my process than with his process, because he’ll do everything at the same time. But once we bring those things to each other, we just pretty much make sure that it’s rooted in honesty.
Would you say there is a difference in performing in the Midwest versus other parts of the country? Like say a difference in crowd energy or reception?
Michael: I think there’s an attention to detail that Midwesterners have that makes the Midwest very special. The Midwesterners, they’re looking for everything, from the fashion, to the stage presence to the crowd reaction coming. They look for it all. So I love coming to the Midwest and following in the footsteps of Midwestern performers. That’s so exciting for me.
Tanya: Oh, yeah. I actually love it. Our stylist designer, who works with us on styling our wardrobe is from Iowa and her mom was the rodeo queen out there, for a long period of time. Kelly Paige [of Bluff Agency], she’s from Iowa. She proudly talks about that. Her mom and all the different outfits. It works perfectly for us because we like to be coordinated. And no one’s more coordinated than Motown and the rodeos. [laughs]
What can someone expect from a The War and Treaty performance?
Tanya: I think one of the things people coming to our shows can expect is vulnerability. We’re very vulnerable on stage. We do a lot of storytelling and introduce a lot of new songs they may be hearing for the first time, never recorded. We just like to make the fans a part of the whole experience, a part of the development of who we are, because we feel if we put a song out for our fans and they don’t like it then we didn’t do our right research. So who knows, Iowa may be one of the places where we test out new songs to see if they like it and put them on the new record that’s expected for next year. They can expect vulnerability, innovation, surprises, new songs, singalongs — you’re just going to have a good time.
That’s so great to hear because I think a lot of times when people go to performances, maybe they expect just the greatest hits. That you’re going to play one after the other. Regarding the fans, would you say it’s a relationship?
Tanya: It’s a relationship, that’s the word — it is a relationship that you have with your fans. They have to feel that because we’re not a band that has a bunch of production, lights, smoke and stuff on the stage. So we like to connect, and I think that’s the great thing about being a band at the level that we’re at right now. We can build in a way that a lot of other bands that are in arenas or stadiums can’t. We’re going to take advantage of being that close to them.
I read about this really poignant moment while working on “The Best That I Have” where Michael you describe feeling exposed and the fear of singing outside your usual vocal range and how your trust in Tanya helped you overcome this. How much do you feel getting to that place of fear is a part of the songwriting and performing process? How much of your pursuit of art should challenge you personally?
Michael: Well, for starters, there was a joke — I was joking about Tanya helping me hit the high notes by kicking me in the balls. But, to be honest with you, that song brought a lot of fear that I needed to face. And that was the fear of changing it. Hearing a different interpretation. I had the song more upbeat and bubbly but as you can see the song turned out completely different. I had to trust someone else’s interpretation of that. So that’s something that I learned and I am growing more trusting in other interpretations of your art. It can either suck or be awesome. It all depends on your interpretation, you know?
