The Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail recently announced plans to create an anthology of the region’s current and historic guitar music, called “A Century of Heritage Guitar Music.”

The organization has published several compilation recordings that celebrate the old time, bluegrass, gospel, and other forms of heritage music that Southwest Virginia is known for, according to a release.

“The guitar has become the ever-present instrument in many American music genres, and that is certainly the case in heritage music,” said Ted Olson, a project consultant and noted historian of Appalachian music.

“Guitarists from this region have been making invaluable contributions to the artistry of guitar music for many years, perhaps none more famous than Mother Maybelle Carter with her iconic “scratch” guitar style playing of ‘Wildwood Flower,’” Olson said.

The guitar sampler will be a two-disc collection of the very best guitar music from the region, both past and present.

“Current musicians from the region continue to find amazing ways to innovate with the guitar, adapting unusual music to it, and taking the level of technical ability to new heights all the time,” said John Kilgore, president of The Crooked Road. “We hope this project will not only document the region’s guitar music, but also help many more people learn about the artists here.”

The Crooked Road has launched an online Kickstarter campaign to help fund the project and to give everyone the chance to be part of preserving an important part of America’s musical history.

“We have two Guitar Masters concerts during the Mountains of Music Homecoming to be based on the release of this new anthology,” said Jack Hinshelwood, Crooked Road executive director. “This project has literally been a century in the making, and we’re thrilled its time has come.”

The organization hopes to have the Guitar Sampler CD available in time for its third annual Mountains of Music Homecoming event, according to the release.