Shrapnel Records
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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 an influential and innovative guitarist.
Varney's label and Yngwie's popularity launched the careers of dozens of other technically adept guitarists, such as Tony MacAlpine, Joey Tafolla, 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.
