============================================
IN THIS ISSUE:
============================================
BAND NEWS - Our Newest Member
SONG NEWS - Underwater Place, Shan Shui
WEBSITE NEWS - A Guided Tour of New Features
FORUM NEWS - Join the Yahoo! Group
============================================

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BAND NEWS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It’s been over a year since we created the blood-ruby.com website and posted our early Blood Ruby songs at IUMA and MP3.com. Meanwhile, many things have happened—Thomas acquired some new equipment, Cynthia began working on material of her own to contribute to the band’s oeuvre, and, most importantly, Margaret Browning joined the band!

Margaret plays bass, guitar and keyboards on most of our new songs. She also sings backup on many of them and even contributes lead vocals on songs like "Separate Sides" (forthcoming). Prior to joining the band, Margaret was no stranger to the other members of Blood Ruby; in fact, Cynthia and Margaret worked together for a number of years on a previous musical project.

There’s a ton of exciting stuff to report, from new songs to new webpages and a new forum, so read on for the latest Blood Ruby News…

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SONG NEWS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blood Ruby has been undergoing an intense period of songwriting and recording in preparation for our first full-length release. We’re eager to share all of our new songs with you, beginning with our first installment, "Underwater Place" and "Shan Shui," now posted at IUMA.com. Here’s a quick description of each:

Underwater Place
This is a revamped version of an older song originally written by Thomas and Cynthia. The aquatic instrumentation and lyrics were inspired by one of Cynthia’s early childhood memories. Margaret’s succinct guitar solo adds that "extra something" it always lacked; this, combined with Cynthia’s awesome vocals, makes "Underwater Place" one of our best songs.

Shan Shui
This is another revamped version of an older song originally written by Thomas and Cynthia. The recording process for this song began sometime in late 2001 or early 2002, but only recently got the polish it needed with Margaret’s airy keyboard touches. The lyrics were inspired by Chinese landscape scrolls and are partly in Mandarin Chinese (or, more accurately, an approximation of it!). The subject matter of the lyrics complements the somewhat Asian feel of the music.

As some of you may already know, we will be posting one or two new songs per month, so check in again soon. Blood Ruby News will keep you in the loop!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WEBSITE NEWS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We've finally given blood-ruby.com a badly needed update and redesign. New features include sections dedicated to band members, songs, news, mailing lists and contact information. Here’s a guided tour:

Band Members
The band member section includes links to bios and pictures of Cynthia, Margaret and Thomas.

Songs
The song section links to individual song pages containing lyrics and download sites for each song. Original photographs by Thomas Wall and Margaret Browning also accompany many of the songs.

Contact
The contact section provides the band’s contact information.

We hope you enjoy exploring blood-ruby.com. Please feel free to contact us with any suggestions you might have. We intend to keep expanding our offerings, so watch this space for more website updates.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FORUM NEWS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------