Shrapnel Records
Shrapnel Records is a
guitar-oriented
music label formed out of
Mike Varney's 'Guitar Spotlight' column in the back of Guitar Player magazine, which featured a photograph and a little paragraph write-up of various guitarists who've sent in snippets of their playing. One young guitarist by the name of
Yngwie Malmsteen sent in a blistering tape of his playing. Varney had him fly out to California to join a band he had been producing by the name of
Steeler, thereby launching Yngwie's career as one of the most influential and innovative guitarists in the world, next to
Jimi Hendrix and
Eddie Van Halen.
Varney's label and Yngwie's popularity launched the careers of dozens of other technically adept guitarists, such as
Tony MacAlpine,
Joey Taffola,
Vinnie Moore,
Greg Howe,
Marty Friedman,
Jason Becker,
Racer X, Ravage and many others. Shrapnel continues to provide a platform for hot young guitarists and has attracted talent from across the metal/shred/hard rock spectrum. The Shrapnel Label Group has grown to include the Jazz/Fusion oriented
Tone Center Records as well as a Blues label, Blues Bureau International.
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List of record labels
