The War and Treaty Say Son Legend, 13, 'Keeps Us Humble': 'He Lets Us Know When We Suck' (Exclusive)

The War and Treaty may be loved by millions of fans — but all bets are off when you have a teenage son who tells it like it is.

Michael Trotter Jr. and wife Tanya Trotter, who make up the Grammy-nominated country duo, open up to PEOPLE in this week’s issue about their 13-year-old son Legend, who’s not afraid to give them some tough love.

“He keeps us humble,” Tanya jokes. “He lets us know when we suck.”

Legend is set to join his parents on their Plus One tour starting in March, which comes in support of their new album of the same name, set for release on Friday, Feb. 14. He’ll sing onstage with Michael, 42, and Tanya, 52, though he’s also been known to photograph the couple.

“He says we don’t pay him enough, so he doesn’t work for us,” Tanya says with a laugh. “He went online and was like, ‘Mom, you guys are only paying me $25. I want to be paid $25 a photo!’ He came downstairs yesterday, because I have a collection of vintage wigs and stuff. He was like, 'Mom, you need to leave those wigs alone for a couple months.'"

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In addition to their shrewd budding businessman, Michael and Tanya are also parents to three older children, including daughter Courtney, 20, who sings on the new Plus One song “Skyscraper” along with Michael’s mom.

“They’re wonderful kids,” Tanya says of their blended family, which includes an older son and daughter. “They all have their own practices in life. They’re smart. They’re always giving advice.”

Michael adds that their kids think Mom and Dad’s jobs are “cool,” especially when they see just how moved fans are at shows.

“Some people’s lives are really, really changed, and all the kids, they connect to that,” he says. “It’s so cool to see because three of our children are now ‘grown,’ but to see them still connected to these songs emotionally just like when they were younger is really touching.”

Michael and Tanya — who married in 2011 and started singing together three years later —began writing Plus One about two years ago, a process he says was all about being “as collaborative” as possible.

“There’s some highs, some lows, some in-betweens, but in the end we get to the glory,” he says of the progression of the album. “The glory is: We survived, we stayed together, and we lived to fight another day. I’d go through all those things again as long as at the end of the tunnel there’s a Tanya there.”

The War and Treaty have come a long way since their 2018 debut studio album Healing Tide, and even further since their early days traveling in a Turtle Top van, playing 100 shows that Tanya booked entirely herself.

“We weren’t trying to just 'make it.’ We were just trying to make sure that our message of love and hope was getting out there. We were broke, we were poor, but we were happy,” Michael recalls.

Related: How The War and Treaty's Michael Trotter Jr., an Iraq War Veteran, Came Full Circle on a USO Tour (Exclusive)

Their message finally hit the mainstream, and last year, the pair were nominated for their first two Grammy Awards. Still, Tanya says the new heights “didn’t really put pressure” on the couple as they made Plus One.

“I think, if anything, being nominated for awards puts you in a position where you really want to have tunnel vision and give your fans what it is they want,” Tanya says. “It’s a happy medium — what you want to do and what the fans want to hear.”

Adds Michael: “We really were just trying to get the attention of each other and the team, making sure that they felt connected to the song, making sure that we weren’t singing something we didn’t totally believe in.”

For more on The War and Treaty, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribe here.

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