The Two Pieces That Started Everything

More than thirty years ago, I had just started college and was delivering pizzas for Hungry Howie’s. One day, while driving through a neighborhood, I passed a former roommate of mine. I noticed in my rearview mirror that he had stopped, so I turned around and met him in a nearby cul-de-sac.

I’ll never forget what he said.
“Hey man, check this out. This is classical guitar. I got these from Rob McGregor.”
He handed me two pieces of sheet music: J.S. Bach’s Bourrée in E Minor and Francisco Tárrega’s Adelita.

At the time, I had no idea that those two pieces would change the course of my musical life. They became my first exposure to classical guitar and eventually led me down a path of performing, teaching, arranging, and publishing guitar music.
Over the years, the original scores were lost, but I never forgot the experience. Decades later, while reflecting on how my journey with classical guitar began, I realized something strange: I remembered the name “Rob McGregor,” but I had forgotten the name of the roommate who had actually handed me the music.

That realization sent me on a search to reconstruct the story. Through a series of phone calls and old connections, I eventually rediscovered his identity: Rob Likon. I also learned that some of the people connected to that chapter of my life were no longer with us. Wanting to express my gratitude, I contacted Rob’s mother and shared the story of how one simple act had influenced the direction of my life.

I then began searching for the mysterious Rob McGregor whose name had stayed with me for more than three decades. To my amazement, I found him. When I told him the story, he remembered the scores immediately and even shared photographs of the original copies he had distributed to local guitar players all those years ago.

Seeing those pages again after more than thirty years was an unforgettable experience.

The two pieces were Bach’s Bourrée in E Minor and Tárrega’s Adelita. I still play both today.

This Bach collection is dedicated, in part, to the people who unknowingly opened the door to classical guitar for me all those years ago.