Burgin was then hired by Tail Dragger Jones and began playing four nights a week on Chicago's West Side with seasoned blues performers such as Eddie Burks, Mary Lane, Johnny B. Moore, Lurrie Bell, Little Mack Simmons, Little Arthur Duncan, Jimmy Dawkins and Johnny Littlejohn, among others.

[2] The band featured Jimmy Burns on vocals and guitar, Martin Lang on harp, Sho Komiya on bass, and either Kenny "Beedy Eyes" Smith (son of Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, drummer for Muddy Waters) or Kelly Littleton (drummer for Lil’ Ed Williams).

During the residency in 1996, Bob Koester, founder of Delmark Records, signed Jimmy Burns with Burgin's band after hearing one set.

In the June 1, 2015, edition of the Chicago Tribune, reporter Rick Kogan wrote, "There are few more passionate practitioners of [blues] music than Johnny Burgin".

In 2016, he moved from Chicago to California and collaborated with West Coast players such as Aki Kumar, Kid Andersen, Alabama Mike, Nick Gravenites, Nancy Wright, and Andy Santana[9].

Takagiman, Iper Onishi, Ataka Suzuki, Hironori Yanaga, Fumiko Maejima, Stephen Dougherty and Chris Matheos.