Our guest this episode is Mike Varney, guitarist and record label icon. As the young founder of Shrapnel Records, Mike Varney helped elevate the shred guitar movement as it grew and flourished through the 80s and gained niche celebrity throughout the guitar world through his labels and a column he wrote called Spotlight which highlighted local guitar heroes from around the country and world. Many of the artists Varney as worked with remain active to this day and are some of the biggest names in guitar music. Malmsteen, Gilbert, Friedman, Howe, Macalpine. The list goes on much further but when you're feeling in the mood go check out some of the releases from Shrapnel Records and later International Blues Bureau and Tone Center. You'll most certainly fulfill your guitar fix. I hope you enjoy!  If you are enjoying Couch Riffs please support us at PATREON. Patreon support is what we rely on to create, sustain, and grow Couch Riffs into a podcast and video platform that gets 100% of our creative focus. Your support there is what makes that possible. Thank you!  https://patreon.com/couchriffs https://couchriffs.com