[3] Johnson was well known for a playing style described as "dum chuck" combining elements of American Western swing and jazz with traditional Shetland fiddling music.
Hearing Eddie Lang and Django Reinhardt on the radio, he adapted their guitar style to Shetland's music,[5] creating a sound that sounded "like a bass and a guitar playing together" according to fellow musician and writer Archie Fisher.
Fisher states that at one festival in Johnson's last years he was surrounded by guitarists from around the world, listening to him play.
"They were all sitting there like disciples",[3] such was the respect that Johnson held in the folk music world.
[5] Johnson made recordings of his music which can be found on anthologies such as Shetland Folk Fiddling,[4] and on records and DVDs by Aly Bain, who also featured him on his Aly Bain and Friends television programme.