Early in the new century, Johnson toured extensively with percussionist Gregg Bendian (now leader of The Mahavishnu Project), playing to enthusiastic audiences and opening for such established acts as King Crimson, Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, and the California Guitar Trio. As a solo musician, he contributed a track to 156 Strings, an acoustic guitar compilation released by Cuneiform in 2002 and curated by guitarist Henry Kaiser. Johnson began playing with local musicians in Savannah, GA, where he and his family had moved. In 2003, he formed his first “band” with two members of the recently disbanded Savannah Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Ripley (wind and electronics) and Ricardo Ochoa (strings and theremin. Called the Richard Leo Johnson Trio, the group performed in Savannah and beyond and released a CD on Cuneiform, called Poetry of Appliance, in 2004. All Music Guide described it as “Difficult to categorize… but marvelous to hear.,” while Progression commented:“The sheer beauty of this album is overwhelming. It is just about as perfect as a collection of tunes can be…” All About Jazz saw the recording as a landmark in Johnson’s career,   “Johnson has reached the point, with Poetry of Appliance, where rather than being “influenced by” he becomes plainly influential in his own right.”
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