Cajon Pass ( /kəˈhoʊn/; elevation 3,777 ft (1,151 m)) is a mountain pass between the San Bernardino Mountains and the San Gabriel Mountains in Southern California in the United States. It was created by the movements of the San Andreas Fault. The Mojave Desert pass is an important link from the Greater San Bernardino Area, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, to Victor Valley, and northeast to Las Vegas.

Cajon Pass itself is at the head of Horsethief Canyon, traversed by California State Route 138 (SR 138) and railroad tracks owned by BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad. Railroad improvements in 1972 reduced its maximum elevation from about 3,829 feet (1,167 m) to 3,777 feet (1,151 m) while also reducing the curvature. Interstate 15 does not traverse Cajon Pass itself but rather the nearby Cajon Summit, 34°20′58″N 117°26′47″W / 34.34944°N 117.44639°W / 34.34944; -117.44639, elevation 4,190 feet (1,280 m). However, the entire area including Cajon Pass and Cajon Summit is often collectively referred to as Cajon Pass. Sometimes the entire area is called Cajon Pass but a distinction is made between Cajon Pass and Cajon Summit in detail.

Phil Keaggy (born Philip Tyler Keaggy, in Youngstown, Ohio on March 23, 1951) is an American acoustic and electric guitarist and vocalist who has released more than 50 albums and contributed to many more recordings in both the contemporary Christian music and mainstream markets. He is a seven-time recipient of the GMA Dove Award for Instrumental Album of the Year, and was twice nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album. He has frequently been listed as one of the world's top-three "finger-style," as well as "finger-picking," guitarists by Guitar Player Magazine readers' polls.

Keaggy was raised in a small farmhouse in Hubbard, Ohio with nine brothers and sisters. Keaggy went to high school in Austintown, Ohio, graduating in 1970. He is missing half of the middle finger on his right hand due to a childhood accident at age four involving a water pump. Reflecting on the incident, Keaggy says,

We lived on a farm in Hubbard, Ohio, which had a big water pump, and I was climbing up on it. As I was kneeling on top of the platform, it broke and the faucets came crashing down on my finger and cut it off. I can remember it very vividly—as if it happened yesterday, and I can see my dad running down the hill, rescuing me, and taking me to the hospital. I can recall having a white cast and bandage; it was gigantic! They tried to sew it on, but it didn't take, so I grew up with nine fingers. As a young kid, I was embarrassed about it a lot, especially when I was beginning to get into guitar. I used to be red when I'd play in front of people because I believed they were looking at my hand, which they probably weren't...Before my accident with my finger occurred, my oldest brother was killed in a car accident and two weeks afterward my younger sister had her big toe cut off. These were all really heavy things for my mom and dad to go through.