Harp, Harpist, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Harps, Reuben Correa, Twin Cities, Minnesota, Weddings, Worship, Party, Background Music, Harp Lessons, Receptions, Composer, Harp Recordings, harp teacher: Journal

Sunny is coming home to MN.   The harp that Reuben's dad made for him for CA performances is coming home to MN for the first time to get some much needed repairs  Reuben will probably play her at the Renaissance Festival this year.

She is a second generation Gothic harp from Music Maker Kits of Stillwater. Sunny is at least 20 years old. blond with wooden scroll decorations and a nice big bass chamber.

Hi everybody thanks for your support and encouragement!!!!!!! 

Reuben is a full fledged two time Nominee 2006 and 2009, in the Just Plain Folks (JPF) Music Awards.  This nomination is similar to the Grammy and Oscar nominees though it is for the Indies. 

He was nominated for the Best Solo Instrumental Song Category in the top 20 out of over 10,000 entries in his category alone. A huge accomplishment

 At 1/3 of 1% of the 560,000 entries overall being a nominee is a rare accomplishment and is an honored distinction. Plus Reuben was invited to  perform at BB Kings in the Showcase of Talent and on the huge stage in the Wild Horse Saloon for the Music Awards ceremony.

It was a memorable experience with many connections made and wonderful time spent making new friends and learning about music making from hundreds of other top notch musicians from over 85 countries.

Well as you can see my intentions of keeping a running journal each day did not pan out.  Heck we didn't even have time to get a drink of water at the hotel after we unloaded the car,  before I had to get dressed and go rehearse.

Boy was I nervous/excited/basket case like. . . where'd this instrument come from anyhow? We hit the Nashville like a whirl-wind  to finding the places, parking lots, sound checks, rehearsals and performances. 

 Each night we watched, listened and experienced 5 hours of music, met new friends, made connections, networked like nuts, heard happy, sad, intriguing  and funny stories about how people got to Nashville.

Carol even drove off before I got all my things out of the car once!  ( just the night of the Wild horse performance) -- (no biggee, I chased her down the middle of the street in my nice clothes)   A funny sight I'm sure!

Stress?  did you say stress?  no stress  just AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 We had road blocks, road work, inclement weather, potty breaks and everything else to slow us down and that was just for Carol and I.  We made it in time though our trusty GPS in hand.

  Toward the middle of the trip we nicknamed her "Miss Priss", because instead of saying recalculating over and over, she tries to get us to go the way she originally planned.  "Turn around"  "Go right, then go right"  "MAKE A U-TURN!"

Believe me we would have been lost til midnight without her.

Nashville is a happening place, the night life kicks in at about 9pm and everybody, and every kind of musician is on the streets, dancing, and singing, strumming, drumming, you name it its there.

If anybody needs to catch up on what the excitement was all about I am going to copy all of the prior to Nashville news from the home page, and paste it on the back of this note.

Reuben will be performing Tonight at the Wildhorse Saloon with an International ensemble at 5:45pm Go to jpfolks.com to get the link to watch the show. There are 95 categories and Reuben doesn't know when his actual category will be announced. If they do it in alphabetical order it will be later in the evening, say 9pm or later. If not it could be at any time.

Follow us on our Journey with a daily log on of Journal entries. Click on News/Journal

The 2009 Music Awards show will be Web Cast.  Click on the Links button, then click on the JPF Title it will take you to the site.  Then go to the News category.  They will give you instructions on how to view the show.

YEEEE HAAA! The Just Plain Folks Music Awards has just announced the Nominees for 2009!!! Reuben's song "Mis Hermanos" from his first and favorite cd "Sea Whisperings" has just been nominated for: Best Solo Instrumental Song! It is in the top 20 in its genre (category).You can listen to it by clicking the play button on the little player on top of this page. The Good News Just keeps coming!! Reuben has been asked to perform in a small eclectic classical jam session with some of the other great nominees for the Music Awards Show at the Wild Horse Saloon in Nashville TN!!! More Really Great News!! Reuben has been invited to perform at the Nominee Showcase to be held at BB Kings the night before the awards show. This is a dream come true. Just Plain Folks is a community of over 51,500 Song / music writers, Recording Artists and Music Industry Professionals — and host to the world's largest independent music awards. This organization was created to provide a network of cooporation and inclusion for musicians. Independent Musicians are essentially artists who are not signed by a label who have footed the bill to make their own cds and careers. Statement from Just Plain Folks Music Awards. Congratulations to all the nominees and a special thank you to our volunteers who worked for 14 months to screen the over 42,000 albums and more than 560,000 songs submitted in 96 different genres(categories) from 160 countries. It is the largest music awards of any kind in world history! Only 1/3 of 1% of the entries made it into the nomination round. The awards show will be held in Nashville, TN USA on August 29th! Reuben needs your help getting to Nashville for the Awards Show here are some ways you can help. Being that this is the Independent Musician Awards he is not being paid to go. 1. Purchase Reuben's music at CDbaby.com Click the LINKS button to access the cdbaby site. Then put Reuben Correa in the search box. All of his available cds will be displayed. a. Either have single songs from Reuben's cds, downloaded to your ipod or mp3 b. Have one of Reuben's entire cds - downloaded to your mp3 or ipod c. You can purchase one of Reuben's physical cds to be mailed to you he will sign it for you.

You can watch our progress by viewing the Donations Indicator in the Photo Gallery. Thanks for your wonderful letters and emails of encouragement and donations!!!!! I have only given the last initial because I don't want people to try to contact you for other kinds of donations.

1. Chuck B

2. Charlotte B.

3. Donny B.

4. Lucy B.

We're 2hrs. hours late getting off but its a beautiful morning the birds are already singing, the traffic is roaring, there's music on the brain. and excitement in the air!

But we are not driving all the way through today, so we have some get out of the car time on this 8hr. leg.

11:30 pm August 26th

Boy did we get a big SUV.  The thing is a monster, our darling boy Trevor disappeared our camera so i can't show it to you just yet. 

We are barely packed and in great need of sleep but I think I've figured out what I am wearing for the performances!...  Clothes!

   I am practicing hit and runs.   That's my term for walking into the room, up to the harp, sitting down and playing the piece.  I do this because chances are I will not get a chance to warm up before I play.   So I have to just carry my harp onto the stage tweak a few out of tune notes and play!

I think I will go to sleep and get up in about 4 hours to pack the silver monster.

  I do a lot of improvisation so I am capable of getting myself out of jams and the harp is very forgiving and magical. it does mystical really well.  my only real concern is the ending where I am playing a running bass motive and flipping levers up at the top of the harp

http://jpfolks.com">

Soon Reuben will launch the new email system. It is very personable and will only have the name of the intended recipient.

YEEEE HAAA!
The Just Plain Folks Music Awards has just announced the Nominees for 2009!!!

Reuben's song "Mis Hermanos" from his first and favorite cd "Sea Whisperings" has just been nominated for: Best Solo Instrumental Song! It is in the top 20 in its genre (category).
Just Plain Folks is a community of over 51,500 Song / music writers, Recording Artists and Music Industry Professionals — and host to the world's largest independent music awards. This organization was created to provide a network of cooporation and inclusion for musicians.

Independent Musicians are essentially artists who are not signed by a label who have footed the bill to make their own cds.
Statement from Just Plain Folks Music Awards.

Congratulations to all the nominees and a special thank you to our volunteers who worked for 14 months to screen the 42,000 albums and 560,000 songs submitted in 70 different genres(categories) from 160 countries. It is the largest music awards of any kind in world history! Only 1/3 of 1% of the entries made it into the nomination round.
The awards show will be held in Nashville, TN USA on August 29th!

Reuben needs your help getting to Nashville for the Awards Show here are some ways you can help.


1. Purchase Reuben's music at CDbaby.com
Click the LINKS button to access the cdbaby site. Then put Reuben Correa in the search box. All of his available cds will be displayed.
a. Either have single songs from Reuben's cds, downloaded to your ipod or mp3

b. Have one of Reuben's entire cds - downloaded to your mp3 or ipod

c. You can purchase one of Reuben's physical cds to be mailed to you

- - - - OR - - - -

2. Send at least $1.00 donation (cash only) to: 6022 Golden Valley Rd, Golden Valley, MN USA 55422-4440

3. For a more convenient method, you can make a contribution using your check card, debit card, Mastercard, Visa, American Express, Discover cards. Here's a Paypal Button to contribute to the trip expense.

Reuben is excited to note that his web site received over 200,000 hits last May to this May.

Simply Nutrilite Raspberry flavored Joint Health Twist Tubes are producing amazing results.

A twist tube is simply an easy way to make bland water a nutritional drink with specific health benefits. Just twist and add to 16 oz. of water and enjoy.

Its like WD - 40 for your knees, elbows and ankles, except much tastier. Includes glucosamine to help your joints, feel and act younger.
I use this product every day and It no longer hurts to walk long distances, climb stairs or run races with my son.

I gave a sample to my older co-worker and after one sample he told me to order him a box of 20. He said it works!
I think thats pretty cool.
You can click on the LINKS tab and access a link to my quixtar web site: REUBEN CORREA'S HEALTH, SPORTS AND NUTRITION and see a whole array of health and nutritional products. You May order them yourself off of the web site or you can email me and have me order this product for you.
Thanks
Reuben & Carol Correa

Reuben has a private meeting with each bride that hires him. Usually he sets out snacks and makes the townhome complex party room a relaxing place.
This is where he greets his guests, confirms their wedding particulars, then works with them to design an original ceremony to their liking.

Mr. Correa has found that many of his brides want original music that he has composed in combination with traditional music, to make their weddings very unique from what is available commercially. Many of these selections are available to listen to on his web site in the wedding / bio section.

A really popular trend this year is that many brides would like Reuben to play lightly in the background during the whole ceremony. They are finding that it keeps babies from crying, people focused on the ceremony and creates an island of peaceful soothing tranquility that helps them calm down and enjoy the moments of their ceremony.

The harp is perfect for this because it can be played very very quietly so that voices can be heard, and fill in special moments when people are walking up to the front to do readings, light candles, or any number of details.
See you in the garden or the chapel, or the hall.

I just wanted to say thank you for all of the kind remarks, I have received and for all of the music you have been ordering from cd Baby and some of the other music sites world wide.
Also for contacting the different links, they appreciate your visits.
Thanks Again
Reuben Correa

Lets say you suddenly had an idea and wanted to search for an item. [For Example] you are planning your wedding and are looking for a certain kind of flowers. Right on the HOME page and the WEDDING / BIO page are Google search boxes. When you have finished your search you can terminate the search and you'll be right back on Reuben's site.

New for this year. Reuben receives many requests for the same date and before now has never maintained a waiting list in case the first person decides not to hire him.
So Reuben will put on his calendar that an inquiry has been made for such and such date.
If by a certain time period the first inquirer doesn't confirm that date with a signed contract and deposit, the next person will be called.
The first person to call for that date has the first right of refusal, meaning that Reuben will not give that date away until he contacts the first inquirer to make certain that their intent is to or not to hire him.

Reuben has had a sudden influx of students beginning and beyond. He's very excited about the prospect of these new people's interest in the harp. There is presently a waiting list of three people waiting to be scheduled.
He is toying with the idea of doing online lessons with a video cam and payment to paypal.
So he is putting out feelers for interest in this venture. If you live far from MN but are interested in instruction in this manner please let him know by emailing him at

harp@reubencorrea.com

Students are accepted on a first come first taught basis. Monday through Thursday. If you are available mid afternoon between 2:15 & 3:30 you have a better chance of being scheduled. There are at this time three slots available.

The October / November re-release of From the Bottom of My Harp Reuben's longest cd has been a great success. It is selling almost equal in numbers to Reuben's Favorite cd Sea Whisperings It will soon be available to buy on CD Baby.

Reuben will be re- introducing his 3rd recording From the Bottom of My Harp. Due to production costs he has had it off of the market for about 8 or 9 years. But public requests for it have been increasing so he has decided to put it back on the shelves.
Eventually he will have new cover art for it, as he is would like to move away from the black and white cover to a colorful, Minnesota scene.
It has folk songs including Danny Boy, Country Gardens, and hymns including Amazing Grace, and six of his original compositions and tops out with just about 60 + minutes of music.
He has also gone with greener packaging for this title as well using up to 1/3 less plastic and paper.

Reuben is constantly improving his web site changing it up to make it more easily readable. There are many templates that he'd like to use but they don't always meet his needs for clarity.
He wants for you to get the information without a lot of searching.
This latest template is an attempt at being "green"
And yet there is a lot of space and not a lot of clutter.
There is so much to read on Reuben's site that you just can't have clutter.
"Well I hope this one works for you."
Reuben

Here's what you get when you download music from the cdbaby Music site:
* - You can buy the entire album as one zip download, which
includes the MP3s, a JPG of the album art, and a text file of song
titles, album notes, and links back to Reuben's other websites!

* - They're regular MP3 files that play easy on ANY MP3 player you
use, whether iPod, cellphone, Blackberry, iPhone, Nokia,
Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.

* - The MP3s are encoded at top-audiophile-quality (~200k VBR),
higher than iTunes or any other major store.


Here they are:

REUBEN CORREA: Our Beautiful Baby`
http://cdbaby.com/cd/reubencorrea


REUBEN CORREA: Sea Whisperings
http://cdbaby.com/cd/reubencorrea2

REUBEN CORREA: Mantle of Peace
http://cdbaby.com/cd/reubencorrea3

REUBEN CORREA: Rock of Ages
http://cdbaby.com/cd/reubencorrea4
You'll be glad you did

From things I've heard from the many many brides that I've worked with.
The number one comment is usually said with a woeful tone of voice.
These wedding plans are driving me crazy!!!!
The best thing you can do for yourself especially if your wedding is in late summer fall or winteris: take a week off now and then.
The result will be to come back with a fresh perspective, and you won't be driving yourself or your family and friends crazy with each new little detail or developement.
Believe me when I say that if you are reporting each new little development to your family friends and co-workers, they are going to start avoiding you. Out of love of course you must consider that before you were getting married you were a whole person, not needing to discuss every dream plan or realization of the very important upcoming event.
After you get married you will be a whole person not needing to discuss every dream or realization of how the very important event went.
Is it important YES! but don't let it consume your every waking and sleeping moment.
Go to the movies, out with friends, and do other activities and concentrate on not talking about the big event. Even if your friends ask about it.
Tell them you are taking a wedding break. You are not gathering ideas, not discussing plans and definitely not taking advice.
You'll be surprised at how much more relaxed and happy you'll be.

Avoid the Pain and the Pitfalls of the Scam Artist (Scammers.)
By Reuben Correa Professional Harp Soloist


Below in the box is an excerpt from an email I received. Right away I discerned that it was a scam but allowed the exchange to go further because I wanted a sample for this article.

VARIOUS FORMS OF SCAMS

The scams come in different forms, sometimes they announce the death of somebody and are in need of somebody in America to transfer huge inheritance amounts and offer a 10% - 20% fee for helping out. Often it is a sad or tragic story meant to play on American sensitivities.
Many scams are the ridiculous but somewhat (hopefully) believable Lottery awards. These play on people who gamble online and can’t remember which lotteries they have recently gambled on. They also tout extremely high dollar or euro amounts but in the end they want you to send them 10% - 20% of the winnings for administrative costs.
The worst are for artists, musicians and people with valuables that they are selling online. My first scam was a huge let down but I got reliable information from a police officer about the existence of a monetary instrument called a ‘Q’ Cheque.
Scammers are really not artists but hateful people trying to make a buck off of the real artist. Real media or musical artists sadly are often low or out of cash and are unfortunately the most hopeful of being discovered by somebody with” real money.” Unless you have some policies in place to protect yourself you could easily be victimized.

WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR

Scammers often try to use the skills of the web site owner and make truly ridiculous requests. The e-mails that you receive are usually in poorly written, misspelled, grammatically incorrect English.
Often they don’t even understand what it is you do so they don’t understand how to answer you when you rebuff their request. The scammers are insistent that you do what they want and will often repeat their original claim or premise.
They will sometimes claim to have a couple of widely nonsensical employments. Like a popular one has to do with being a priest and at the same time a videographer, or journalist or TV reporter. It is because Americans especially artists want that print, or advertisement, and are perceived to have some strong religious ties.
They claim to come from European or American countries because the scammers know that very few people in their right mind are going to pay attention to anything from Africa and other third world countries. The scammer’s name is probably Ugabooga Ankawanka but they take on anglicized names like Thomas or Mme Williams to further the scam and therefore trust factor. Another naming technique is to bastardize movie star names and product names so that they sound familiar. One such example that I received was “Joshua Timberlake” and Mrs. J. Cadbury close but not close enough.

HOW DO THEY TRY TO GET YOUR MONEY?

Time is of the essence they want to get your money before you suspect anything is wrong. Usually, and this is especially difficult for musicians the performance is less than two weeks away. The main soloist has fallen ill or has a conflicting engagement, so you’ll be the honored stand in. Maybe the hiring party is planning a surprise party with awards, catering, and journalistic coverage often accompanied by a videographer or publicist for the event.
Most of the time these events are out of town and may even require out of state or country travel. The scammers include details that would boggle the mind in the first place and always have extravagant bits of information to tantalize the artist and cloud the issue.
The scammers will ask you for an estimate of what the costs will be for performance fee, travel, hotel, meals, costuming, sound amplification, lighting, staging, special effects, technicians, and whatever extra needs might be included.
They want to make their event sound really important so that you’ll spend as much as possible. Of course you’ll want to charge them as much as you can get away with, because after all this is short notice and you’ll have to rearrange your schedule for this important event. They’ll ask for your contract and bill, and address and your phone number
Now comes the money part: You send them the estimate of what it will cost and sooner than you know they will send you a check for double or even triple what you asked for. Your blood pressure will rise with excitement because if you are smart you have checked out the company name on the check and it does exist. But it is written on a “Q” – Cheque, however, if you don’t know what a “Q” Cheque is it looks legitimate.
Most people will gasp and promptly report to the hiring party that too much money was sent. Or in isolated cases when that doesn’t happen, they will report to you that the “accountant” sent too much money and could you please return the overage. Here comes the tricky part.
You will be told not asked to send the money by Western Union to an account in an African nation. When you ask why there? It is because the hiring party is on a missions trip or it has to be sent to pay the photographer who is on assignment with a magazine on a safari, or a journalist who is covering a story and needs the money to get back to America. All very strange excuses but perhaps believable if you are taking drugs or drinking a lot.
By now a lot of red flags should be forming in your mind. If you say no or make noises about waiting until the check clears you will receive stringent instructions by email, and phone and letter. None traceable by the way and the phone call will be very poor scratchy noisy reception with the person on the other end sounding very African and difficult to understand at all.
Many artists will actually run not walk to the Western Union office and promptly write a check to cover the overage based on the huge amount the check was written for and that has arrived in the mail. Then they will proceed to book flights, rent, cars, hotels, equipment, on their credit cards and make preparations to leave. Some musicians actually do show up only to find no car waiting, no address, no party, and a huge loss of income.

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF
Put some policies in place for your personal protection.

1. First and foremost, if you receive a check make sure it is not a “Q” Cheque. I can’t remember the real reason that these checks are legal, but they are not written by a bank, the writing party has to put the money into the account that is created for this transaction.

2. Make sure that the check clears and I mean wait the full 10 days that it will sometimes
take while the bank researches the availability of funds.

3. Email or call the company that is named on the check, Ask for the accounting
department or the human resources, or events coordinator to see if they have any record
of this transaction.

4. Insist on receiving a certified check for the correct amount and sent next day mail by
Fedex or express mail.

5. Tell them if the check is written for any other amount you cannot cash it and will return it.

6. Mapquest the address of the event, call the event location if you can find a listing, and
find out if the event is listed not always reliable because they may be getting scammed
too.


7. Do not give in to demands for payment of overage. Tell the hiring party that you will
bring the money with you when you arrive to do the performance.

8. Email the hiring party telling them that you have been a victim of scam attempts
before and that you suspect that they are trying to scam you and that you are going to
contact the FBI with their information. If that doesn’t stop the hiring process in the bud
you may have a legitimate gig because scammers will rarely continue a scam if
threatened with the FBI.

Congratulations!!!



-----Original Message-----
From: Raymond Erick <> To: harp@
Sent: Sat, 8 Dec 2007 9:14 am
Subject: Teacher needed
Hello,
I am interested in educating my Daughter on how to play harp. I want her to come around during this christmas holiday and i would want you to teach her for two weeks. Let me know if you would be able to take her and how far do you think a two weeks lesson can take her.
Let me know your charges for this duration and if you have a place where she can stay during this period.
We leave here in the Uk and do not have a family relative in the US where she can stay.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Thanks
Raymond

Harp wrote:
this is not possible she cannot learn harp in two weeks. Two years maybe. Stay in England there are ;many good harp teachers there.
Harp

Ok,thanks i understand two weeks is not enough to learn and that was why i asked how far can she go with a two weeks lesson. How long would it take her to understand the rudiments of harp playing .She actually insisted on learning in the US

Thanks and let me know
Harp Wrote back:
I know you are a scammer and I am forwarding this email to the FBI.


I sincerely hope that this article has been of some assistance in helping you understand the nature of these scams and that it has come in time to help you avoid the pain and loss of hard earned and deserved money.

Here are the various internet companies that you can download and stream Reuben's Music:
Companies that are supposed to have
Sea Whisperings, Our Beautiful Baby Mantle of Peace and Rock of Ages:

Apple iTunes, - AudioLunchbox, - Buy Music, - Bitmunk, - Charity Tunes, - Choice Records, - Chondo, - Daiki, - Destra, - Digital Kiosk, - Goodstorm, - GreatIndieMusic, - GroupieTunes, - Inprodicon, - Intent Media Works, - Interia, - iSound, - Liquid Digital Media, - MOD Systems, - Mouzika, -MPGreek, - MP3, - extention, - Mp3tunes, - MusicIsHere, - MusicNow, - Music Net, - MSN Music, - Muze, - MyKidsTunes, - Napster, - Nareos, - Nexhit, - NTT, - PassAlong, - PayPlay, - PlayIndies, - Puretracks, - Rhapsody, - Ruckus, - RuleRadio, - Sony Connect, - Sonific, - Tradebit, - USEN, - Verizon, - WrapFactory, - Zune,

Reuben Correa, harp soloist was the dinner entertainment at the Gala for the 25th Anniversary of the Minneapolis / St Paul Airport Foundation. It was held in the Champion Airlines Hangar which was turned into an elegant salon with silver candelabra's hanging candles, giant white rose arrangements and Reuben appeared to be floating 15 feet above the salon floor in a mechanics scissor lift draped in black satin. Mr. Correa played his heart out and was rewarded with many appreciative ovations.
It could be said to be the high - light of his career!

Reuben has started printing less paper and using less plastic in packaging his cds.
He has decided to place his cds in slim line Jewel cases (as they are called) and is using the disc as the back cover instead of printing a paper cover.
It makes the cd lighter weight for shipping and is a wiser use of resources in packaging since many people remove the disc from the box anyway and put them in to vinyl folders.

I wanted to make sure you knew about PayPlay.fm - an MP3 download
store that is selling Reuben Correa's music as part of CD Baby's Digital
Distribution.

They've got a nice easy-to-use website that is a great no-nonsense
place for people that want to buy his MP3s. No software to
install. And since they're regular MP3 files, they'll work in every
computer, and any portable player.
Be sure to press the Links button for this new great feature!!