Bart Ferguson
Al Toribio | Dave Coey | Bevan | Bart Ferguson | Jordan Korach

Bart was born in Portland, Oregon on a sunny fall day in October. He was the first born child to Denny, a Marine Corps Captain, and Rorie, an ex-Catholic Nun, both of whom were also born in Portland, Oregon. Bart is a 7th generation Oregonian. He has two brothers and a sister, and he is very close to his family. He always loved music and would listen endlessly to CSNY, The Beatles, The Mama's and The Papa's, The Beach Boys, Otis Redding and Kiss. If the music had people singing harmonies or had someone playing the harmonica, Bart was sure to get his hands on it. He would always sing along with the records and try to find any missing harmonies. Sometimes he found them, sometimes he didn't, but it laid the foundation he uses today for singing and finding harmonies.

The first time he remembers loving the sound of the harmonica was The Beatles song ' Love Me Do ' . He began to search out harmonica players like Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springstein, and Mickey Raphael from Willie Nelson's band. Bart's first live concert experience came in 1979 when his mom and dad took him to see Willie Nelson and Family at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland. Mickey Raphael mesmerized Bart with his harmonica playing and during that show, Bart leaned over to his dad and said '" That's what I want to do with my life ".

His inspiration for playing music and living a life on the road came directly from that concert and the movie ' Honeysuckle Rose ' , a movie in which Willie Nelson takes his band and his music on the road for months on end. Traveling from town to town all accross America in a ' rag tag ' converted bus, playing music to people, fascinated Bart. This dream he had would be fully realized before too long. However, in 1979 Bart still had his sights on playing high school and college football. He did this, and ironically it was a broken leg in his first season of college football that ended his football career and opened the door for a musical future.

While attending the U. of Oregon, Bart met up with another aspiring singer songwriter named Allen Bush. The two of them would go on to form a band called ' The Strangers' and thus begin a life of writing music, singing harmonies, and traveling non-stop for the next nine years in a converted Portland city bus, and a converted Trailways bus throughout the United States and Canada. The Strangers based themselves in San Francisco, and developed a strong and loyal following, some of whom remain loyal fans of Kerosene Dream. The Strangers recorded four albums, played more than a thousand shows, and frequently did shows and tours with their good friends the ' Renegade Saints' .Thus the connection. Dave Coey and Al Toribio were two of the singer songwriters for The Renegade Saints.

During those shows and tours, Bart and Dave would talk about having a side band together to write and play different songs than The Saints and Strangers. And with this, the idea for what eventually became ' Kerosene Dream ' , was born. With the breakup of the Saints and Strangers, the door was left wide open for Kerosene Dream ( aka. Snap Jackson ), to be the main project. With four albums with The Strangers and three with Kerosene Dream, Bart continues to write melodies and lyrics that hope to find a place in the hearts of music lovers.