Husband-and-wife duo also talk about appearing in Sister Act 2 and learning to play on one of Saddam Hussein’s piano
Husband-and-wife duo the War and Treaty stopped by the Jennifer Hudson Show Thursday to perform their “Have You a Heart,” the closing track on their recently released major label debut Lover’s Game.
Prior to the performance, Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter sat down with J-Hud, who revealed that Tanya had a small part in the Whoopi Goldberg comedy Sister Act 2. As Tanya explained, the role came down to her and Lauryn Hill, and while the future Fugees singer ultimately got the part, Goldberg made sure Tanya appeared in the film via a duet with Hill.
Michael then discussed their band name and how he began writing songs while an active military member in Iraq. “I was the weak link… but to calm me down, they had a little secret, they took me down into the basement of where we were staying, which was one of the bombed-out palaces, and Saddam Hussein had pianos all over Iraq, and this just happened to be one of his pianos,” he said.
“So I just sat down, and they told me, ‘When you get flustered, come here and find your way back home.’ And I taught myself to play piano, and I wrote my first song when that commanding officer who showed me where this was was killed, and it brought so much healing and resolution to the soldiers.”
Produced by Grammy winner Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell), War and Treaty’s Lover’s Game marks their major-label debut after signing to Mercury Records in 2022. The album follows 2020’s Hearts Town, which Rounder released. Michael and Tanya Trotter also recently appeared with Brothers Osborne on a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll (But I Like It),” which appears on the Stoned Cold Country tribute album and delivered a standout set at SXSW.