If you could have told a country music fan 30 years ago that country music would one day be the most youth-obsessed, youth-dependent musical genre out there, he probably would have said you were crazy.

To put it another way, if you went back in time and told the sort of country-loving old coot who no longer represents the country music world at its most photogenic that country would one day be the most youth-obsessed, youth-dependent popular music out there, he’d probably say you’re “plumb loco” or, at the very least, “squirrelly.”

But such a thing has come to pass.

The youth-obsession thing, not the time-travel thing.

In rock, venerable groups like U2 and the Rolling Stones can still make an impact on corresponding charts and radio stations.

But on country radio these days, it is a bigger crime to be old than to be from Montreal.

However, a stalwart of the local country music scene is bucking the stereotype.

Roger Marshall, who has had brushes with national fame over the years but made a name for himself locally in such country acts as The D.J. Band and The Silver Dollar Band, is on the verge of something big at the ripe old age of 53.

Marshall and his band Roger Marshall and the Law recently signed a contract with Rannus Records in Nashville, Tenn.  The band’s debut album, “Hiding in the Wide Open,” will be released June 20 and will get national distribution at Wal-Mart stores.

He never expected to find himself here and, for a while there, he didn’t expect to find himself anywhere.

Marshall was almost called up to the majors about 15 years ago when his Nashville producer and longtime friend Russ Zavitson offered him a song with a title that probably sounded to him at the time like it belonged on a kids’ album:  “Achy Breaky Heart.”

Nashville being what it was and is, it took Marshall a year to get it recorded and by that time someone else had beaten him to the punch:  Billy Ray Cyrus.

Of course, if Marshall had recorded it, he might now be looking at the wreckage of his music career and starring on a Pax series about the only doctor in Manhattan with a mullet.

Marshall’s music career was threatened in the ‘80s and 90’s by a foe a lot more formidable than the ruthlessness of Nashville:  cancer.

“It was testicular cancer,” he says.  “I tried to continue, but then it moved into my lymph nodes and went through my body.”

Marshall was forced to stop performing and sell all of his musical equipment while he underwent daily radiation treatments.

He suffered sever gastro-intestinal problems and ultimately had to have seven feet of intestine removed.

But he beat the cancer.

For a long time, Marshall was too grateful for his survival to give much thought to performing.

But that changed on a fall fishing trip with his son Brandon a few years back when the repose of nature was broken by the chirp of a cell phone.

It was an offer of work for him and his band.

Marshall said “yes” even though he didn’t have a band at the time.

Roger Marshall and the Law – featuring sons Brandon and Jesse on guitar and drums, respectively – formed shortly thereafter.

Of course, Marshall had started and finished a lot of bands before that didn’t garner more than regional renown.

The difference came on a visit to Nashville for the purpose of reconnecting with Zavitson.

Zavitson didn’t blow any smoke up Marshall’s denims about the challenges of ageism in Nashville.

“He said to me, ‘I could give you the best song in the world and no one will sign you.  That’s just the way it is.’”

This made Marshall angry.

Marshall set about changing Zavitson’s mind, then everybody else’s.

Which brings us to the present.

Marshall recently filmed his first music video.  It is destined for such country music networks as GAC and CMT.

Not only is Marshall looking at a success that most musicians can only dream of, but he will be able to enjoy it in a manner that most fathers can only dream of:  His sons by his side.

Marshall said Jesse paid him an earthly compliment recently that sums up everything he has gone through and everything he has accomplished.

“He said, ‘It’s great playing behind you and looking at your ass up there.’”

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