The War & Treaty will release their debut album “Lover’s Game” on Friday, and they’ve endured some unexpected trauma leading up to the release.

A few days ago, the duo – comprised of husband and wife Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter – played Ryman Auditorium as part of the Rock The Ryman concert. The event celebrated the more than 100 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees who have performed on its stage over the last 130 years.

Other artists on the bill included Charlie Worsham, who hosted the event, Gavin DeGraw and Maddie & Tae. When The War & Treaty stepped on stage to honor Joan Jett and Ray Charles, Michael intended to give the performance his all. What happened next resulted in him seeking medical treatment, which wasn’t part of his plan.

“I don’t know how to half bake it,” Michael said on social media. “@charlieworsham and the band and the beautiful @themaureenmurphy were cooking and I admired @she_lovesvintage (Tanya) performance so much that I started looking for that second gear inside to shift to.”

He said the crowd was so into their performance that the partnership between the stage and the audience was “at a high.”

“As I stepped back while belting out ‘I Hate Myself For Loving You,’ I noticed that I was falling and couldn’t get up,” he explained. “Yep! I had fallen and hit my head on the piano. I blacked out for 30 to 40secs but in that moment, it felt like forever.”

Michael would hear the band slowly fading into silence. When he woke up, paramedics, his wife, his manager, the band’s music director, and a doctor from the audience surrounded him.

“I can honestly say Nashville we have some of the BEST medics, paramedics, security guards, and crisis managers in the world,” he said. “I got to the hospital and learned that I broke my fibula. No surgery is needed, but it is broken.”

He said he hoped fans in attendance remember something positive from the duo’s performance.

Those who want an accurate picture of what The War & Treaty really sounds like can check out the duo’s “Lover’s Game” album, available on Friday. The couple worked with super producer Dave Cobb, most known for his work with Chris Stapleton, to create the project that shares their take on the shift of cultural tides while also examining a mature relationship.

“There’s a lot of love,” Tanya promised of the album.

“There’s a lot of singing, a lot of vocals, and a lot of honesty,” Michael added.

Michael co-wrote most of the songs on the project. The couple co-wrote some songs together, and Michael teamed with popular singer/songwriter Dave Barnes to create one of the tracks on the record. Tanya said the collaboration was the couple’s first time “going outside of” their creative process.

“He’s amazing,” Tanya said. “He’s brilliant, and he’s crazy.

Michael added good-naturedly: “He’s insane. There’s something wrong with him.”

They also had to adjust to working with Cobb. He’s one of the most sought-after producers in country music, and Tanya described working with him as eye-opening.  

“What you see is what you get,” she said, laughing that she ate her way through the studio.

“After every session, there was a buffet waiting for us,” she said. “I think that was the motivation to make sure we had great recording sessions.”

In addition to their new album “Lover’s Game,” they are also embarking on a headlining tour in March before touring with other artists later in the year.

“There is no greater or higher calling in life than to be conduits of love, and that’s exactly what ‘Lover’s Game’ is to us,” Tanya said. “From the opening guitar riff to the last piano note on this record...love is the intention and love is the subject that can’t be ignored. We’ve been through every facet of it together, and we could not be more excited to share another layer of our story.”