The War and Treaty • Madeline Edwards • May 15, 2025 • The State Room
Reviewed and Photographed by Marlo Matamoros
The War and Treaty performed at a sold-out show at The State Room on Saturday night during their “Plus One Tour.” The War and Treaty is a husband-and-wife duo, Michael and Tanya Trotter. They were nominated for two Grammy Awards last year for Best New Artist and Best American Roots Song. Michael served in the U.S. Army, where he learned to play the piano and began writing songs. Tanya played a role in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit where she sang alongside Lauryn Hill. The two met at a music festival in Maryland and the rest would be history.
More of their accomplishments would include The duo being the first Black duo to be nominated for the Country Music Association’s Duo of the Year and the Academy of Country Music’s Duo of the Year. The duo recently received an Emmy Award for their song “Again” which they worked on with the Tennessee Titans. They also reached top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 with a song they were featured on with Zach Bryan titled “Hey Driver.” If you haven’t heard any of their music, I would encourage that you listen to this song with it showcasing their range. The War And Treaty flew to the finale of American Idol the next day after performing here in Salt Lake City to perform this very same song to America.
Madeline Edwards
Madeline Edwards would join the duo on this tour. Madeline is a Californian-born but Texas-raised singer/songwriter. She has performed at festivals such as Stagecoach and Lollapalooza. She has also toured with artists such as Chris Stapleton, The Brothers Osbourne, and Ingrid Andress. I have never been to show at The State Room but have only heard great things about the venue.
When I walked into the venue, one of the first that I noticed was the intimate setting. There was reserved seating that filled the front of the venue followed by seated benching. It was time for Madeline Edwards to hit the stage. She walked out and stood in front of the keyboard. After photographing her first three songs she would pull out her guitar and share that she had learned to play about a year ago.
She would perform “American Psycho” and bring up the question of why mental illness is still taboo to talk about. After performing that song she shared how humbled she was to be paid to play her own music on the road. She played one last song on the guitar titled Hold my Horses” which is a song written by all women. She shouted out her hat, mentioned that she wanted to be the country Adele, and debuted a new song titled “Without Gravity.” Madeline finished her set by pulling out a disposable camera and taking a photo of the crowd followed by performing one of her hits titled “The Wolves.”
The War And Treaty
After a brief intermission, it was time for The War And Treaty to hit the stage. The duo would perform Five More Minutes after photographing the first three songs. During this song, the crowd was up and very interactive. The War And Treaty would then introduce themselves and thank everyone for coming out to a sold-out show on a Saturday night. They performed “Blank Page” which was one of my personal favorite performances of the night.
The duo was united on stage throughout the whole song which is also dedicated to anyone looking for love. They would go on to perform “Love Like Whisky” which is a collaboration with Miranda Lambert. The collaboration challenged the duo to think in a different perspective. The song is also a song about a fight between the two and has the following lyrics – “I’ve been sleeping on the couch all week / You ain’t even been talkin’ to me / Well, Two Doors Down, It’s a standoff now / Which one of us gonna fold? / Maybe neither one right got heated last night / She can sure be cold.”
Michael and Tanya were interactive with the crowd throughout the night and would soon do something I hadn’t seen before. The two would walk into the audience singing the lyrics “walk through the fire” while encouraging the audience to sing the lyrics. This wasn’t what was different though, it would be the fact that they would hug or interact with anyone they would run into in the venue while continuing to sing those lyrics. Michael would then share his story about when he was deployed to Germany and then Iraq. He shared how he survived sniper bullets to the helmet thinking they were just pebbles. The band behind the duo would soon have their solo performances encouraged by the two.
This concert was an amazing experience, and I highly encourage anyone who can see them live to do so. Their storytelling and genre-blending were heard throughout the whole night here in Salt Lake City.