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The singer had been a professional surfer until an accident forced him to take some time off. He learnt to play guitar at age 14, but did not seriously pursue this route until his college years studying film at University of California at Santa Barbara, where he graduated with a degree in film. His music caught the ear of Ben Harper's producer/manager J.P. Plunier. Plunier pushed Johnson to record formal demos, eventually leading to the release of Brushfire Fairytales in 2001.
After touring for almost two years, Johnson released his second album, On and On to generally favorable reveiws in late 2003. Many of the songs on On and On had previously been released on bootlegs, such as J.O.A.T. and B.O.A.T. , but received full band treatment on the new album.
Johnson's interest in surfing also led him to produce and score multiple surfing films; among these September Sessions and Thicker Than Water were released on CD/DVD between the release of Brushfire Fairytales and On and On. Johnson has also appeared in the surf film Shelter, made by his manager, Emmett Malloy.