The War & Treaty, April 15

Friday, April 15, 8 p.m.

Raccoon Motel 315 East Second Street, Davenport IA

Currently on tour in support of their new release Lover's Game - an album that finds its artists, according to NPR, "showcasing their genre-crossing essence” - married musicians Michael and Tanya Trotter bring their outfit The War & Treaty to Davenport's Raccoon Motel on April 15, treating guests to an evening of what the Boston Globe called “a spectacular combination of fervent gospel, Ike & Tina-style R&B, and sweet, steel-flecked country soul."

A smoothly seductive R&B singer/songwriter whose influences include Gerald Levert and Tyrese, Michael Trotter Jr. sang in church before serving two tours of duty in Iraq, where his powerful voice got into the media through broadcast talent shows in service to the military. His eventual wife and music partner Tanya Blount first came to prominence in the 1993 film and soundtrack Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, and the following year, her debut album Natural Thing was released, featuring the internationally charting singles “I'm Gonna Make You Mine” and “Through the Rain.” In 1995, Blount also received a nomination for Best New Artist at the Soul Train Awards. The musicians met at a folk-music festival after Trotter's final tour abroad, and in 2016, under the moniker Trotter & Blount, they released the EP Love Affair, inspiring NPR to praise their “rootsy aesthetic animated by the range of their musical experiences.”

Under their new duo moniker The War & Treaty, the now-married Trotters released the EP Down to the River, which Paste magazine deemed “a splendidly made immediate classic about conflict and redemption,” as well as “expressive blues and soul and folk and gospel that truly connects to every listener who may desperately need it.” They followed that release in 2019 with The War & Treaty's first fill-length album Healing Tide, which earned the Trotters ecstatic review, with Rolling Stone described them as “reminiscent of classic Ike and Tina rock-infused soul" and the Los Angeles Times stating, “The duo is a joyful mix of gospel, soul, and Americana best carried through the raw, rafters-reaching power of their voices.”

With the pair's last several years together also finding them playing sets at such prestigious festivals and events as Bonnaroo, the Newport Folk Festival, the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and AmericanaFest, The War & Treaty's new album Lover's Game is a 10-song collection that marks the outfit's first major-label release under Mercury Nashville. It finds the Trotters offering a unique perspective on shifting cultural and musical tides while pulling back the layers of a maturing relationship, and Music Row raved that its single "That's How Love Is Made” echoes "the sound of pure love that shatters and defies every musical category,"

The War & Treaty play their Davenport engagement on April 15, admission to the 8 p.m. concert is $26, and tickets are available by visiting TheRaccoonMotel.com.