Mike Varney is an American record producer and music publisher. He is the founder of the Shrapnel Label Group, which includes

Shrapnel Records Shrapnel Records is an American record label founded in 1980 by record producer Mike Varney. History Guitarist Marty Friedman (formerly of Megadeth and Cacophony), one of the label's most successful artists, first appeared on the album ''U ...

, Tone Center Records, and

Blues Bureau International Blues Bureau International is an American guitar oriented, blues, and blues rock independent record label. Blues Bureau is a member of Mike Varney's Shrapnel Label Group, which also includes Shrapnel Records, another guitar oriented label which fe ...

. He also has a 50% stake in Magna Carta Records, a New York-based label. Varney is often credited with being the individual most responsible for popularizing the mid-1980s

shred guitar Shred guitar or shredding is a virtuoso lead guitar solo playing style for the guitar, based on various advanced and complex playing techniques, particularly rapid passages and advanced performance effects. Shred guitar includes "fast alternate pi ...

boom, and has continuously specialized in producing musicians within the genres of

instrumental rock Instrumental rock is rock music that emphasizes musical instruments and features very little or no singing. Examples of instrumental rock can be found in practically every subgenre of rock, often from musicians who specialize in the style. Instru ...

, hard rock,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and key ...

, blues, blues-rock,

progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified guitar-driven sound of the former with the more experimental, cerebral ...

, and

speed metal Speed metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) roots.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' (Berg Publishers, 2007), , p. 31. It ...

Early life

Mike Varney grew up in

Novato, California Novato (Spanish for "Novatus") is a city in Marin County, California, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area. At the 2020 census, Novato had a population of 53,225. History What is now Novato was originally the site of several Coast Miwok ...

, located in the North Bay region of the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

. Prior to forming

, Varney played extensively with the pre-punk San Francisco band,

The Nuns The Nuns was an American rock band based in San Francisco and New York City. Best known as one of the founding acts of the early San Francisco punk scene, the band went through a number of hiatuses and periodic reunions, lineup changes, and ...

. The Nuns were one of the most successful bands in the Bay Area at that time, regularly selling out at the local venues and clubs. He co-wrote and performed "Rock Justice" along with

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to ach ...

and Jefferson Starship's Marty Balin, released by EMI in 1980. Varney also led his own band, Cinema, which received wide recognition in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was known for searing lead guitar runs performed on his collection of

Gibson SG The Gibson SG is a solid-body electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1961 as the Gibson Les Paul SG. It remains in production today in many variations of the initial design. The SG (where "SG" refers to Solid-Body Guitar) Standard is G ...

guitars.

Career

Shrapnel Records

was founded in 1980 by Mike Varney at the age of 22. It was the first record company in the USA strictly dedicated to heavy metal. As other labels followed suit, Shrapnel was at the forefront of the neo-classical electric guitar and shred movements. Shrapnel Records was the first label to bring guitarists to world attention such as

Yngwie Malmsteen Yngwie Johan Malmsteen ( ; born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck, 30 June 1963) is a Swedish guitarist. He first became known in the 1980s for his neoclassical playing style in heavy metal, and has released 22 studio albums in a career spanning ov ...

( Steeler),

Marty Friedman Marty Friedman (born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist, best known for his tenure as the lead guitarist for thrash metal band Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony from 1986 unti ...

, Jason Becker,

Paul Gilbert Paul Brandon Gilbert is an American hard rock and heavy metal guitarist. He is the co-founder of the band Mr. Big, and was also a member of Racer X, with whom he released several albums. In 1996, Gilbert launched a solo career, for which h ...

, Racer X, Tony MacAlpine, Vinnie Moore, Greg Howe, Richie Kotzen,

John5 John William Lowery (born July 31, 1970), best known by the stage name John 5, is an American guitarist. His stage name was bestowed on him in 1998 when he left David Lee Roth's solo band and joined the rock group Marilyn Manson as their guitar ...

and many others. Today Shrapnel continues to record guitarists and has also returned, in part, to its metal roots in releasing some classic metal and hard rock records due to a resurgent market interest.

Guitar Player Magazine's Spotlight column

Mike Varney began his "Spotlight" column in ''

Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' is an American popular magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political ...

'' magazine in 1982 as a vehicle for discovering talent among the magazine's readerships. His monthly column featured many so-called hometown heroes who sent in demos to showcase their abilities. Several players who were featured received opportunities to record with Shrapnel Records.

Blues Bureau International

, founded in 1991, is a label that has focused its attention on the blues rock genre. Through the years the label has recorded many artists including twelve

Pat Travers Patrick Henry Travers (born April 12, 1954) is a Canadian rock guitarist, keyboardist and singer who began his recording career in the mid-1970s. Early life Travers was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. Soon after picking up the guitar at ag ...

records, six

Rick Derringer Rick Derringer (born Richard Dean Zehringer; August 5, 1947) is an American guitarist, vocalist, producer and songwriter. He came to prominence in the 1960s as founding member of his band, the McCoys. Their debut single, " Hang on Sloopy", was ...

records, as well as records by other rock blues artists such as

Eric Gales Eric Gales (born October 29, 1974), also known as Raw Dawg, is an American blues rock guitarist, originally hailed as a child prodigy. , Gales has recorded nineteen albums for major record labels and has done session and tribute work. He has ...

, five records, Scott Henderson, solo records and with his group "Tribal Tech",

Glenn Hughes Glenn Hughes or Glen Hughes may refer to: *Glenn Hughes (musician), born 1951 *Glenn Hughes (American singer) (1950–2001) *Glenn Hughes (cricketer), born 1959 *Glen Hughes Glen Hughes is an Australian former professional rugby league footbal ...

, two records with Black Crowes guitarist Marc Ford, five records with Chris Duarte,

Neal Schon Neal (Neil) is a given masculine name and surname of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an Anglicisation of the Irish Niall which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "hon ...

, The Outlaws, Joe Louis Walker, etc. The label continues to record artists in the electric blues style.

Tone Center

Tone Center Records, founded in 1997, is an independent record company owned by Varney, dedicated to recording high level, jazz, jazz/rock and fusion music. The roster is made up of some the most well-known names in the instrumental jazz/rock/fusion world. This labels records include performances by musicians such as Frank Gambale, Eric Johnson,

Warren Haynes Warren Haynes (born April 6, 1960) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known for his work as longtime guitarist with the Allman Brothers Band and as founding member of the jam band Gov't Mule. Early in his career he was ...

Steve Morse Steve J. Morse (born July 28, 1954) is an American guitarist, best known as the founder of the Dixie Dregs and as the lead guitarist of Deep Purple from 1994 to 2022. Morse has also enjoyed a successful solo career and was briefly a member ...

Victor Wooten Victor Lemonte Wooten (born September 11, 1964) is an American bassist, songwriter, and record producer. He has been the bassist for Béla Fleck and the Flecktones since the group's formation in 1988 and a member of the band SMV with two other ...

and

Mike Stern Mike Stern (born January 10, 1953) is an American jazz guitarist. After playing with Blood, Sweat & Tears, he worked with drummer Billy Cobham, then with trumpeter Miles Davis from 1981 to 1983 and again in 1985. He then began a solo career, ...

Partial list of artists who have appeared on releases on Varney's record labels

Shrapnel Records

Source: *

Apocrypha Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...

* Artension * Brides of Destruction * Cacophony * Chastain *

Craig Goldy Thomas "Craig" Goldy (born November 6, 1961) is an American musician, best known as the guitarist of the rock bands Dio and Giuffria. Early musical life Goldy was born in San Diego, California. Before Dio, he played in the bands Vengeance, Ro ...

Deen Castronovo Deen J. Castronovo (born August 17, 1964) is an American drummer and singer, best known for being a member of classic rock band Journey and hard rock acts Bad English and Hardline. He currently plays drums and shares lead vocals for the bands ...

* Derek Taylor * George Lynch *

* Great White * Greg Howe * Haji's Kitchen * Jake E. Lee * James Murphy * Jason Becker * Jeff Watson * Jizzy Pearl * Joey Tafolla *

* Johnny Hiland * John West * L.A. Guns * Marc Rizzo *

* Michael Lee Firkins * Michael Schenker Group * Michelle Meldrum * Nicole Couch *

* Racer X * Richie Kotzen *

Timelord The Time Lords are a fictional ancient race of extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrial people in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', of which the series' main protagonist, The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, is a memb ...

* Tony Fredianelli * Tony MacAlpine * UFO * Vicious Rumors * Vinnie Moore * Vitalij Kuprij * War & Peace * Winger *

Tone Center Records

Source: * Adam Rogers * Anthony Jackson * Bill Connors *

Bill Frisell William Richard Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist, composer and arranger. Frisell first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of context ...

* Bireli Lagrene * Brett Garsed * Chris Duarte * Craig Erickson * Dennis Chambers * Eric Johnson * Frank Gambale * Gary Willis *

Jack DeJohnette Jack DeJohnette (born August 9, 1942) is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. Known for his extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians including Charles Lloyd, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans, John Abercrombie ...

Jimmy Haslip James Robert Haslip (born December 31, 1951) is an American bass guitarist who was a founding member of the jazz fusion group the Yellowjackets, which he left in 2012. He was also an early user of the five-string electric bass. Early life and ...

Jimmy Herring Jimmy Herring (born January 22, 1962) is the lead guitarist for the band Widespread Panic. He is a founding member of Aquarium Rescue Unit and Jazz Is Dead and has played with The Allman Brothers Band, Project Z, Derek Trucks Band, Phil Les ...

* John Abercrombie *

John Patitucci John Patitucci (born December 22, 1959) is an American jazz bassist and composer. Biography John James Patitucci was born in Brooklyn, New York. When he was 12, he bought his first bass and decided on his career. He listened to bass parts in R ...

John Scofield John Scofield (born December 26, 1951), sometimes referred to as "Sco", is an American guitarist and composer whose music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention in ...

* Kai Eckhardt *

Larry Coryell Larry Coryell (born Lorenz Albert Van DeLinder III; April 2, 1943 – February 19, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist. Early life Larry Coryell was born in Galveston, Texas, United States. He never knew his biological father, a musician. He w ...

* OHM *

Pat Martino Pat Martino (born Patrick Carmen Azzara; August 25, 1944 – November 1, 2021) was an American jazz guitarist and composer. Biography Martino was born Patrick Carmen Azzara in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, to father Carmen "Mickey" ...

* Rob Wasserman *

Robben Ford Robben Lee Ford (born December 16, 1951) is an American blues, jazz, and rock guitarist. He was a member of the L.A. Express and Yellowjackets and has collaborated with Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, George Harrison, Larry Carlton, Rick Sprin ...

Ron Keel Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in '' Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe ...

* Scott Henderson *

Scott Kinsey Scott Kinsey is a keyboardist and member of the band Tribal Tech. He is a 1991 graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Career In addition to playing in Tribal Tech with Scott Henderson and Gary Willis, Kinsey has worked with philanth ...

* Simon Phillips * Steve Bailey * Steve Khan *

Steve Lukather Steven Lee Lukather (born October 21, 1957) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, best known as the sole continuous founding member of the rock band Toto. His reputation as a skilled guitarist led to a stead ...

* Steve Marcus *

* Steve Smith * Stuart Hamm *

TJ Helmerich T. J. Helmerich is an American musician and audio engineer. Helmerich is known for developing a unique 8-finger style of playing his guitar, a technique he taught to a young Joel Hoekstra as one of his first guitar teachers. He has produced/eng ...

T Lavitz Terry "T" Lavitz (April 16, 1956 – October 7, 2010) was an American keyboardist, composer and producer. He is best known for his work with the Dixie Dregs and Jazz Is Dead. Biography Born on April 16, 1956, Lavitz grew up in New Jersey. He st ...

Tom Coster Tom Coster (born August 21, 1941) is an American keyboardist, composer, and longtime backing musician for Carlos Santana. Early years Detroit-born and San Francisco-raised, Coster played piano and accordion as a youth, continuing his studies ...

Vinnie Colaiuta Vincent Peter Colaiuta (born February 5, 1956) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician in many genres. He was inducted into the '' Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1996 and the ''Classic Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2014. Colai ...

* Walter Trout *

Blues Bureau Records

Source: * Blindside Blues Band *

Chris Cobb Chris Cobb (born ca. 1964) is a British computer scientist and Pro Vice-Chancellor, Chief Operating Officer at the University of London. He has been Pro Vice-Chancellor at University of Roehampton, London, England and prior to that was at Lo ...

* Craig Erickson *

* Joe Louis Walker * Johnny Nitro *

Jon Butcher Jon Butcher (born May 5, 1955) is an American Rock music, rock, blues songwriter, guitarist and freelance multimedia producer. Early life Jon A. Toombs, is the elder son of Joan Butts and John A Toombs Sr. In 1967, Jon's stepfather William ...

* Leslie West * Marc Ford *

* Richie Kotzen *

* Scott Henderson * The Outlaws *

Tony Spinner Tony Spinner (born June 9, 1963) is an American rock and blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaborations with Toto and Paul Gilbert. Spinner, who toured with Toto from 1999 until their temporary hiatus in 2008, was personally sele ...

Magna Carta Records

Source: * Age of Nemesis *

Alex Skolnick Alex Skolnick (born September 29, 1968) is an American musician. He is best known as the lead guitarist and one of the songwriters of the thrash metal band Testament and has played with several other bands, including The Alex Skolnick Trio, Tr ...

Andy West Andy West (born February 6, 1953) is an American bass guitarist and composer who is an original founding member of the Dixie Dregs along with Steve Morse. Since the breakup of the original band in 1983, West has been on albums with Mike Kenea ...

Billy Sheehan William Sheehan (born March 19, 1953) is an American musician. He is best known for playing the bass guitar with acts such as Talas, Steve Vai, David Lee Roth, Mr. Big, Niacin, and The Winery Dogs. He is also known for his "lead bass" playin ...

Bozzio Levin Stevens Bozzio Levin Stevens is an American supergroup power trio formed by drummer Terry Bozzio (Frank Zappa, U.K., Missing Persons, Steve Vai, Jeff Beck), bassist and Chapman Stick player Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, Liquid Tension Experimen ...

Caliban Caliban ( ), son of the witch Sycorax, is an important character in William Shakespeare's play '' The Tempest''. His character is one of the few Shakespearean figures to take on a life of its own "outside" Shakespeare's own work: as Russell ...

Clinton Administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following a decisive election victory ove ...

* David Lee Roth *

Derek Sherinian Derek Sherinian (born August 25, 1966) is an American keyboardist who has toured and recorded for Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, and Joe Bonamassa, among others. He was also a member of Dream Theater from 1994 to 1999, is the founder of Planet X an ...

Doug Pinnick Douglas Theodore Pinnick (born September 3, 1950), sometimes stylized as dUg Pinnick or simply dUg, is an American musician best known as the bass guitarist, co-lead vocalist, and songwriter for the hard rock and progressive metal band King's ...

* Enchant * Ethan Brosh * Explorers Club * Fareed Haque *

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

* James LaBrie * Jordan Rudess *

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to ...

* Khallice * Liquid Tension Experiment * Liquid Trio Experiment * Magellan * Martone * Michael Lee Firkins * Mike Portnoy * Niacin *

OHMphrey OHM (sometimes stylized Ohm: or OHM:) is an American instrumental rock/jazz fusion power trio group fronted by former Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland and featuring bassist Robertino "Pag" Pagliari. The band was formed in 1998 and has released f ...

* Ozric Tentacles * Points North * Robert Berry * Robert Walter *

Royal Hunt Royal Hunt is a Danish progressive metal band. The band was founded in 1989 by keyboardist André Andersen in order to combine basic values of classic rock with progressive, current musical elements. The name originated from a painting seen i ...

* Shadow Gallery *

* Steve Stevens *

Stripsearch A strip search is a practice of searching a person for weapons or other contraband suspected of being hidden on their body or inside their clothing, and not found by performing a frisk search, but by requiring the person to remove some or al ...

* Tempest *

Terry Bozzio Terry John Bozzio (born December 27, 1950) is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons and Frank Zappa. He has been featured on nine solo or collaborative albums, 26 albums with Zappa and seven albums with Missing Pers ...

* Tiles * Tony Hymas * Tony Levin *

World Trade World Trade may refer to: * International trade * International finance * World Trade Organization *World Trade (band), a progressive rock band *World Trade Center (disambiguation) World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Cente ...

References

External links

The Shrapnel Label GroupShrapnel Records Official MySpace SiteOfficial site for Jason BeckerMagna Carta Records WebsiteBernd Steidl interview, 1993
{{DEFAULTSORT:Varney, Mike Record producers from California Living people People from Novato, California Year of birth missing (living people)