Radio soap opera premieres on WSOM

A new radio soap opera by Youngstown native Andria Lorelle debuted this week on local talk station WSOM-AM 600.

Titled “Andria Lorelle’s Bent Not Broken,” it airs at 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday on the “Tracey and Friends” show. It’s also streamed live online at traceyandfriends.com.

Lorelle, a Kent State University graduate, is founder of Majesty Entertainment. Her new show revolves around a family dealing with issues such as infidelity, values, forgiveness, lust, greed and faith.

“People will find, as does the family in this story, that as life bends us, with God’s help and the love of one another, we don’t have to break,” said Lorelle in a press release. “The family that bends together, mends together.”

The radio show will feature Youngstown actor D.C. Colvin and Alene Wilson-Harris, who has appeared on episodes of “Little House on the Prairie” and “The Jeffersons.” Other cast members include the Rev. Kandi Smith, Justin Andrews, Leicester Stovall and Lorelle.

To learn more or to catch up on missed episodes, go to bentnotbroken.com.

RED WANTING BLUE LOOMS LARGE WITH ‘VANISHING POINT’

Red Wanting Blue has no trouble getting 400 to 500 fans to squeeze into Cedars Lounge when they come to town. The Columbus rockers likely will do it again Saturday when they return to the downtown rock club.

But with their first album for a record label on the horizon, will RWB soon need a bigger venue?

After toiling for a decade as one of the best unsigned bands in the country, RWB signed a contract last year with Fanatic records. The peripatetic band with the poetic soul will release its first album on the label — titled “From the Vanishing Point” — Jan. 10. An advance copy arrived on my desk last week.

Singer Scott Terry’s rich voice and deep lyrics make RWB’s music immediately recognizable, and “From the Vanishing Point” stays in that comfort zone. And wisely so. After waiting all those years for a chance to be heard, this is no time to mess with the recipe. With the marketing power of a record company behind it, RWB has an opportunity to present its much-loved sound to a wider audience.

Of course, there also won’t be any change in the band’s relentless touring schedule. RWB’s traveling circus is booked through February with shows from Kearney, Neb., to Arlington, Va.

Terry unflinchingly sings about life as a traveling musician — and specifically about RWB’s insistence on doing it their own way — on “Pour It Out” from the new album:

If you’re serious, you gotta go to New York or LA.

Because people don’t meet in the middle anymore, they say.

You gotta get up, get out, go.

Just remember to click your heels if you miss home.

Made a religion out of what I love,

but sometimes the bread just ain’t enough.

You gotta pour it out and pin it down.

It ain’t enough to make it up.

You gotta take it town to town.

(musical bridge)

Catch me, America.

I’m tired of hearing about New York and LA.

If the future’s a destination and if our history’s a ghost,

then what happens right now is what matters the most.

They want to keep us dreaming,

but it’s time to wake up.

It’s time for real life to catch up.

Hey, there, girl you feel like Dorothy.

Well then I must be your scarecrow.

But our land ain’t Oz,

it’s O-hi-o.