Over the weekend, the War & Treaty were initially slated to play a charity event for a nonprofit company called Equestrian Connection, and instead ended up joining Zach Bryan for "Hey Driver" at his Michigan Stadium concert, which broke the record for the highest-attended ticketed concert in America. After receiving public backlash from Equestrian Connection, the duo has made a statement about their decision.
Per their website, Equestrian Connection uses horses as therapy to “positively impact the lives of thousands of mentally, emotionally and physically challenged children and adults.” They claim the War & Treaty dropped out of their scheduled performance at Marty’s Barn Party in Lake Forest, IL three hours before, while the War & Treaty assert it was five. "Trying not to judge but hard to understand why the band would cancel their paid commitment or at least give us sufficient prior notice," EC wrote on Facebook. "Still trying to process the lack of empathy."
According to Billboard, event organizer Diana Finley Schnell shared her account of the situation:
They said they won’t be here now because they got a better offer for a tour. I’ve never seen such a sad display of unprofessionalism in my life…. How can you confirm the day before and then to not show up or even contact the event to tell them. We still wouldn’t know if we hadn’t called their agent…If I ever see them at a show and have the chance I am doing something to destroy their show.
Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter gave their account to Billboard, saying they were invited on Friday night by Bryan's father to sing the National Anthem at the country star's concert, but the formal invitation arrived Saturday morning after they got to Chicago. They consulted their management and booking agency and decided to go to Ann Arbor but didn't immediately notify Marty’s Barn Party organizers.
“We never checked into the hotel, we never went to the venue, never ate any food, never did any of that,” Michael Trotter explained. “[The event organizer] is out there saying we stole their money, ate their food, checked into hotels, all this stuff about us that’s just not true.” He said the $50,000 performance fee was refunded, and they made a $5,000 donation and a video apologizing and explaining their absence.
The War & Treaty said they chose to join Bryan because of their close friendship and the importance of their collaboration "Hey Driver." Here's what Michael Trotter said:
While we were [on stage] I was keeping in mind the times when I was standing on helipads in Iraq, standing on the banks of the Euphrates River being shot at…where I thought I wasn’t going to be able to do this dream of mine to be a musician and recording artist. I never imagined being in a stadium of 112,000 people-plus singing a song that Zach Bryan and the War and Treaty have done together. Being able to represent the U.S. Army — all my battle buddies, all the veterans — [and] represent my city, Albion, in the state of Michigan, with my wife and our friend and partaking in his success and being part of that…we had to do it.
He continued, “In hindsight I wish that Zach would’ve asked us a lot earlier, but, I mean, it’s Michigan and it’s the biggest concert in U.S. history. You don’t really get that opportunity many times in your life.”
"Was it the best decision we’ve ever made and how we did it?" Tanya Trotter added. "No, but when I look back at our journey and everything we’ve gone through and the banner he waves and we wave as a couple that battled disabilities, for me it was something that was rewarding to experience."
