Country-soul duo the War and Treaty — married couple Michael and Tanya Trotter — have publicly warned other artists against fully immersing themselves in Nashville's music-industry machine, telling Rolling Stone's Nashville Now podcast that their efforts to "play the game" did not pay off. Having previously embraced the "Nashville way" to promote their 2025 album Plus One, the Grammy-nominated pair now say the investment brought no meaningful return, with Tanya bluntly advising fellow musicians: "Don't ever do it."

The comments coincide with the duo's departure from Universal Music Group Nashville for Atlantic's new Americana-leaning imprint, Atlantic Outpost, where they have released a new LP, The Story of Michael and Tanya. Michael describes the band as unequivocally Americana and points to artists such as Tyler Childers, Charley Crockett and Sierra Ferrell who have succeeded without Music Row rituals. He cites Ray Charles's 1962 album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music as his guiding "north star", declaring that it "saved country music".