Shaky Knees Music Festival 2018: A Conversation With The War And Treaty
The War And Treaty performing at Shaky Knees Music Festival 2018.
COURTESY OF ALIVE COVERAGE FOR SHAKY KNEES MUSIC FESTIVAL
There’s no perfect way to categorize The War And Treaty. One might venture a few terms: Americana, Blues, Folk perhaps. But the husband and wife duo don’t feel the need for labels. Singer and Chief Songwriter Michael Trotter Jr. sees music more as a continuum.
“I like how music has always been step with each other, no amtter what era it is,” Trotter said. “If you listen to Frank Sinatra put out a certain kind of song, Dean Martin’s not going to veer too far left from that song. Neither is Nat King Cole or Louie Armstrong. But there’s still a unique diversity in each artist.”
Singer Tonya Blount Trotter said diversity is key to The War And Treaty. Their mission is to take everything that has inspired them and channel it into their music, and even their family lives.
“I think we’re influenced by just American music in itself,” Blount said. “I come from a Black-Latin family. My mother was Panamanian, so I grew up listening to Calypso music, and you infuse that with Gospel music and Country music, and she was also a Classical music singer — so every style of music is a part of me.”
When you embrace Diversity, Trotter said, music becomes transcendent of labels. If anything, that’s what he wants the audience at Shaky Knees to feel when they walk away from hearing The War and Treaty.
“We can see ourselves as one and the same,” Trotter says. “We don’t have to compartmentalize by the color of our skins. We don’t have compartmentalize by the taste of music we may like, or the taste of foods, or religious preferences or anything like that, or sexuality. We can literally preface ourselves as just, beautiful, wonderful, human beings who want to make our world a better place.”
Check out upcoming tour dates at: https://www.thewarandtreaty.com/shows/.
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