It’s a good day for a new anthem from The War and Treaty. “If This Day,” the husband-and-wife duo’s new single, was written by 17-time Oscar-nominated songwriter Diane Warren. It’s featured in the new limited series The Gray House, premiering Feb. 26 on Amazon Prime Video.
Executive produced by Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, and Lori McCreary, The Gray House tells the true story of four women whose Underground Railroad network evolves into an espionage ring. The gospel-inflected “If This Day” draws inspiration from the story. “If this day was the last day,” Michael and Tanya Trotter sing, “would you have said all you needed to say?”
“‘If This Day’ is not only about these brave women of The Gray House,” Warren says. “It also applies to us all, to look at ourselves and ask ourselves did we do all we could do, did we stand up for those we needed to stand up for, did we live enough, love enough, forgive enough. Did you do the best you could do with the time you were given on this earth?”
“When Diane asked us to listen to the song in her studio, Michael and I were immediately captured by the lyrics,” Tanya Trotter recalled. Michael added, “Every day we all need to ask ourselves the questions asked in this song. It’s our way of staying humble and always in the posture of servanthood.”
“If This Day” is one of two The War and Treaty songs on The Gray House soundtrack alongside album opener “Blood In the River.” The tracklist also features songs from the likes of Lainey Wilson, Killer Mike, Scott Stapp, Shania Twain, and Willie Nelson, whose “Heart of America” served as the project’s lead single.
In recent years The War and Treaty has emerged as one of the most vibrant forces in American roots music. The band won Duo/Group of the Year at the Americana Honors & Awards; earned an array of Grammy, ACM, and CMA Award nominations; and climbed to the top 20 on the US singles chart with their Zach Bryan collab “Hey Driver.”
Listen to Luke Grimes’ “If This Day (From The Gray House Original Soundtrack)” here.
