Montreal’s Jesse Creatchman has conjured up a blues tale straight from the smoky edge of the woods with “Fairytale Blues” — a spellbinding, harmonica-laced folk-blues single that feels both ancient and brand new. Released from the “12-bar dungeon,” the song leans hard into the tropes of classic storytelling, but Creatchman isn’t dealing in happily-ever-afters. There’s betrayal, there’s blood, and there’s a prince who doesn’t quite get the send-off you’d expect. With a dusty groove, vivid lyrical imagery, and Zeller’s harmonica howling like it’s half wolf, half ghost, “Fairytale Blues” marches to the beat of its own crooked folklore.
“I just had to follow the breadcrumbs,” Jesse says. Inspired by a stubborn lyric line stuck in his head, the song unfolded like a riddle solved in real time. “Once Upon A Time” became the doorway, and once he walked through, everything clicked. Shemerr grounded the rhythm, Dixon lit it up on guitar, and Zeller added that signature swampy harp. “Somehow he found a way to make it swampy and ornate,” Jesse adds. The result is a track with grit, grace, and something mythic in the mix — the kind of blues that winks as it stings.