The War and Treaty Talk Dierks Bentley Collaboration at 2021 ACM Awards

The War and Treaty are new faces for the ACM Awards. Meet the powerhouse duo who will be collaborating with Dierks Bentley at the 2021 ACMs.

Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Blount are no strangers to the country music genre. Their work in the Americana field has been praised by the likes of John Prine and Emmylou Harris. The pair of singers met, got married, and quickly became a duo.

The War and Treaty On How The Dierks Bentley Collaboration Came About:

In 2018, the husband-wife duo helped induct Dottie West into the Country Music Hall of Fame. “Dierks was there with Ricky Skaggs and we met backstage and connected,” they explained. “Dierks asked to perform at his festival, Seven Peaks, the following year. Then the pandemic happened – we stayed in contact, checking in on each other. A few weeks ago, Dierks checked in again but this time asked ‘Do you want to do the ACMs with me?’ That’s just the kind of guy he is. A big powerful moment and he wanted to share it with us and we are grateful.”

Trotter Jr. and Blount know just how special their moment on the stage will be for so many people. “The song itself is incredible in itself is timely for right now,” they added. “To be on the stage with Dierks and the other musicians performing this song for this time, I think it will be an incredible moment.”

The pair are also excited to witness some other spectacular performances. They met Chris Stapleton the night that they initially met Bentley. “Throughout the pandemic, we’ve befriended artists like Lady A (Hillary), Mickey Guyton, Jimmie Allen – and he has already won an ACM Award this year. It’s been really cool to be embraced by the Country Music world as family. We are excited for anyone getting on the stage and to learn from artists – also Carrie’s performance with CeCe Winans, a personal favorite of ours,” The War and Treaty said.

An ACM First:

Finally, they expressed how surreal this moment is for them and admitted that they have cried a couple of times. “Rissi Palmer wrote and said you do understand, you are the first African-American husband and wife duo to perform on the show? And we burst into tears. We are so grateful to the ACMs for being leaders in this way, it’s just awesome,” they concluded.

The 2021 ACM Awards will air on Sunday, April 18 at 8 PM ET on CBS.