Shrapnel Records

Shrapnel Records
Parent companySony Music Entertainment
Founded1980 (1980)
FounderMike Varney
Distributor(s)The Orchard
Genre
Country of originUnited States
LocationNovato, California
Official websiteshrapnelrecords.com

Shrapnel Records is an American record label group founded by record producer Mike Varney. The group principally uses the Shrapnel Records record label, a guitar-oriented label which features shred guitar, hard rock, metal and progressive metal. In the 1990s, he also started the Tone Center Records and Blues Bureau International sublabels to promote fusion and blues.

Blues Bureau artists include Rick Derringer, Eric Gales, Marc Ford, Chris Duarte, Leslie West and Pat Travers.

Tone Center Records grew out of Varney's admiration for the jazz fusion of the 1970s and groups such as The Tony Williams Lifetime, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever, and Soft Machine. Tone Center's early releases included drummer Steve Smith and guitarists Larry Coryell, Frank Gambale, and Scott Henderson.[1]

  1. ^ Woodard, Josef (January 1999). "Jazz Departments: Label Watch: Tone Center". Jazz Times. Retrieved December 13, 2016.