He plays lead guitar and sings in the Glasgow-based indie band Belle and Sebastian.

Jackson's early musical influences include Madness, ABBA, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), Depeche Mode and ABC, with his first album purchase being The Police's Reggatta de Blanc (1979).

The Moondials experience was a pleasant one for Jackson, and it took a great deal of work for nominal Belle & Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch to convince him to join his group.

Since the band's third album, The Boy With The Arab Strap, other members have begun to contribute, Jackson chief amongst them.

In 2012 Jackson, accompanied by members of the Glasgow band The Wellgreen, recorded a version of George McCrae's "Rock Your Baby" for a fundraising cd titled "Super Hits Of The Seventies" for US radio station WFMU.