“I’ve never missed a gig yet. Music makes people happy,
and that’s why I go on doing it - I like to see everybody smile. ”
Professional
Joaquin Willis is a guitarist, singer and songwriter living in Northern San Diego offering guitar lessons and live music to the greater San Diego region. Joaquin received his A.A. degree from Palomar College in 2012. and completed his Bachelors of Arts in Music from Point Loma Nazarene University in 2017.
Joaquin studied Classical Guitar under the guidance of Arthur Golden M.M. beginning in high school until completing his associates degree. Joaquin has studied composition under Dr. Victor Labenske, Jazz guitar under Ian Cler and Vocals with Dr. John Craig Johnson. He is an active member of the Music Teachers Association of California and placed Third in the 2014 MTAC Composer’s Today state competition. Joaquin also has original music on iTunes, Spotify, and many other digital platforms with his band He Must Increase.
Joaquin is a Worship Leader and leads worship throughout San Diego on his own and with his band He Must Increase. Joaquin plays for weddings or other small events as a solo classical guitarist or with acoustic guitar and vocals. In the future Joaquin would like to continue teaching privately while creating his own series of instructional books for learning the guitar while continuing to write and perform his own music.
Personal
Joaquin resides locally in North County San Diego with his wife and five children. He is a native to California and grew up in the Bay Area before moving to San Diego as a freshman in high school. Joaquin's love for music was influenced by his Father who would play music at all hours of the day and his childhood friend Ryan Suchil. Ryan first taught Joaquin to play guitar but tragically passed away in February of 2005. It was this life changing moment that made Joaquin realize he would not be happy unless he pursued what he loved most in life, music.
Joaquin's musical taste include composers or artist such as Bach, Beethoven, Frederic Chopan, Hans Zimmer, John Williams, Christopher Parkening, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, Van Halen, Al Di Meola, Joe Pass, Hillsong United, Elevation Worship, Jesus Culture, John Mayer, Ed Sheeran, Built To Spill, Mars Volta and much more! Joaquin is always looking for new genres of music to listen to and loves the opportunity to play or teach new music through his client's requests.
When he's not practicing you will find Joaquin spending time with his family, exercising, reading, practicing some more 😎 or writing music.