Johns was born there in the mid-1930s, years after the police had left. When he was 13 or 14, he began playing guitar.
"I always played out in the Bush," Johns said. "We had a hunting outfit, and I played for the horses."
Now 70, Johns is an elder of the Carcross Tagish First Nation. He's been a leading advocate for the preservation of woodland caribou in southern Yukon and northern British Columbia. In his spare time, he plays guitar and sings old country songs throughout the Yukon, Southeast and the Interior.
"I'm just a guy that loves music," Johns said. "I'm not doing it for the money. I'm just doing it for the fun of it."
Johns was playing in Whitehorse in the early 1990s when he met Alaska Folk Festival co-founder Bob Pavitt and Juneau songwriter Buddy Tabor. Johns had just finished a rendition of Jimmie Rodgers' "Cowhand's Last Ride."
"Bob Pavitt came up right away and said 'It's been a long time since I heard this song,'" Johns said. "The three of them introduced themselves and invited me down for the Alaska Folk Festival."
"He has this real love of music that comes through when he performs," Tabor said. "It's that style of country music from the '40s and '50s that he really likes: Hank Williams, Webb Pierce, Johnny Horton, Carl Smith."
The following April, Johns drove to Skagway and caught the ferry to Juneau. He played on the main stage at Centennial Hall and has been making the same trip every year since.
"I was just as nervous as a son of a gun, but I did all right," Johns said, of his first festival. "It's just so many people, compared to our little coffeehouses."
Johns had surgery this winter, and as recently as February didn't know whether he'd be able to play at the festival. He turned in his application and is down for 9:15 p.m. Wednesday, his 12th straight appearance.
"If I'm not strong enough to play, I'll tell them once I get down there," Johns said. "It's one of the best festivals in North America. It was a beautiful thing that I got into about 11 or 12 years ago."
   
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