Movies of War

1 of 1 2 of 1 Get the best of Vancouver in your inbox, every Tuesday and Thursday. Sign up for our free newsletter.So let’s start with basics: besides the name of the band opening for Jeffrey Lewis and the Voltage at the Fox this Friday, what the heck are Roundelays?For one thing, they’re not the same as “rounds singing”, as one gets with “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”, where people sing the same verses of a song starting at different points to create an interwoven effect. There is no rounds singing on Roundelays’ debut album, Regional Romantic (though we suspect leader Mike Branham is kind of tickled by the question, and might include some on their next release).But trying to Google what a roundelay actually is leads one down a rabbithole of confusion. It seems to be a poem or song with a repeated refrain that follows a particular internal rhyme structure, which circles back to its first line, but it’s archaic French and not exactly well-illustrated by the examples provided. As best as we can tell, the kickoff song on Roundelays debut album, Regional Romantic, “One Day With You”, is not technically a roundelay, though it has plenty of deliciously brain-tickling internal rhymes, with a playful love of language that John Prine himself would be proud of:I’ve loved and I’ve hated and I’ve been elated/I’ve been frustrated too/But most things are overrated and I’d easily have traded/All my best days for one day with youBranham chuckles at the confusion his bandname has inspired.“Yeah, Roundelays is a weird and fun word I stumbled across in 2024," he tells the Straight. "I love words and language and it’s a rare word in the sense that nobody is really saying it—it’s from the past. But now we’re bringing it back!”He’s just kidding about that, he adds, though that doesn’t mean he’s not also correct.“But seriously, I like collecting things from the past and I see value and potential in discarded things," Branham reports. "This word felt like one of those things. I was drawn to its uniqueness.”And even though there is no rounds singing (and probably no roundelays, either) on Regional Romantic, there is clearly a deep love of group vocals throughout the album, especially on the choruses.“I do love group vocals of all sorts,” Branham shares. “I was broke as a kid and at one point I joined choir for free singing lessons and really loved finding my voice amidst all the other singers. We have so many singers and so many guitars in the band—it’s super fun!”He's not kidding about the number of singers and guitarists present. Besides Branham (guitar, harmonica, and lead vocals) there are guitar and vocal contributions on the album from Daniel Thow, Ogwaho Powless, Stephen Fischer (who also plays slide), Csaba Laszlo (who also plays keys), and Jess Benini (who also does uke and harmonica).Tristan Milne of BRASS is on bass, Felix Fung of Asian Persuasion All-Stars is on drums and guitar, and Lauren Reville is credited with vocals and “team spirit.” There is even actually a 10th member pictured—Lexi of Lilex and the Apocalips—but she won’t be onstage at the Fox. However, there will be guests, including the esteemed Kristy-Lee Audette of Rong and Dead Bob, lending trumpet support, and Adam Kyle on sax. It's a pretty fulsome lineup for an opening band—once absences are accounted for, there should be 10 members onstage all told. But Roundelays wasn’t initially conceived of as a live unit, Branham explains. This makes sense, since a 10-piece band means excessively thin slices of pie when it comes time to get paid, but the group's members aren’t concerned.“The band formed in the studio for the album and just decided to keep going and having fun," Branham says. "So far so good!” It is Roundelays’ second time opening for Jeffrey Lewis and the Voltage here in Vancouver; that association began when Lewis booked a local venue Branham is associated with, and the enterprising frontman took a gamble and sent him a demo of their song “Invisiblity Cloak”, which Lewis very much enjoyed. For his part, Branham was blown away by the Voltage the last time they played here, and he’s stoked to share a bill with them again, particularly at a venue as cool as the Fox Cabaret.“The Fox gig is a huge moment for us and so is this interview,” he says. Interestingly, Branham’s background is not music at all, but film. He was one of four key grips who won a technical achievement Oscar for an innovative inflatable wall used for greenscreen purposes when a Godzilla movie was shot in BC some ten years ago. Though he’d been playing guitar since his teens, his work in film was his focus for years.“Music never left me, but it wasn’t a priority," he notes. "For many years I was a home player, an obsessive listener and a concert goer. I picked back up with songwriting about five years ago and it took me a few years to get comfortable. Around that time, I was randomly invited into a music project, so I tried to write a few songs and that kinda opened the floodgates, so to speak.”While concerts Branham has helped with have mostly been on the punk and metal end of the spectrum, he has a lifelong affinity for roots and folk music, which is what shows through in Regional Romantic.“In the late '80s early '90s I was into 1960’s era music, and music influenced by it, but could also hang with pals at punk shows or heavy shows. I would tag along to a Melvins show or the Cramps then go home and listen to my old Woody Guthrie or Hank Wiliams tapes. Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Howling Wolf, Muddy Waters were all on my regular list too.”He’s also an advocate for local music, hence the album title.“I am a regional romantic! I love local music and also hope for Roundelays music to be loved,” he says with a humble laugh. “I try to make music for myself and if anyone likes it that’s a bonus, but I also really hope people like it! Regional Romantic feels good to say and is kinda open to interpretation; I like to try to keep it real so it’s also a reminder to myself that I’m fortunate to be a part of a very special community of passionate talented artists playing to an audience community that shows up and cares. I’ve had so many magical experiences connecting with audiences."This also includes experiences on the road, as he writes about, for instance, in the song “Road Trip”.“We did a BC/ Alberta tour with our labelmates Tonk when both of our albums came out in mid 2025,” he explains. “It was 10 shows in 15 days. Super fun and yes it was about ten of us in two vehicles.” Branham had read Jack Kerouac’s On the Road as a teenager, which also influenced the song.“It has always stayed with me as a reminder to live and love fully in life. For this song, I had the verses first and kinda just did that thing where you steal a line of lyrics from a verse and recycle it as a chorus with new chords. I wrote the lyrics and had a melody then we put it to music in the studio. Jess and I sang the verses in unison, into one microphone I think.”The number is one of Branham’s favourites on the album, he explains.“It’s the scrappiest song and almost didn’t make it onto the album, because we did it live and it was a bit hard to deal with, so I had to kinda fight for it… but not too hard because everyone agree it had some merit.”Another favourite is the song “Wrong Again”, which is a bit sadder than the other songs on the record. “We’ve all lost some friends over the years," Branham notes, and it’s a reminder to love your people and maybe the people you don’t know yet too.”The new album is on vinyl and will be at the Fox. The record is on Branham's own label, Green Auto Records, which is brand new (Tonk’s Wildflower is the only other record on it as yet), but has lots more to come. One last question: Who is the dog on the cover of Regional Romantic?“A pal—and super-talented sound tech and musician—Bree brought that dog to a doggie birthday party we hosted," Branham reports. "And I just randomly took that pic and liked it. Later, I had a deadline for album art so I made that cover with my phone and got a free art app so I could use my finger to write the cursive words over the photo on my phone. It took me all night because I don’t know what I’m doing! I ended up making a stylus out of a wet Q-tip wrapped in tinfoil.”Works for us!Roundelays opens for Jeffrey Lewis and the Voltage tonight (February 27) at the Fox. For tickets, go here. Join the discussion Facebook comments not loading? Please check your browser settings to ensure that it is not blocking Facebook from running on straight.com