Welcome to the Guest List, Substream’s new feature where we ask your favorite musicians to tell us about their favorite musicians.
Today’s installment: Bayside frontman Anthony Raneri picks his all-time favorite songwriters.
As a preface, it is important to note that these are my favorite songwriters and not necessarily my favorite bands. Writing a great song sometimes is about throwing paint on a canvas, playing from the heart and once in a while, it clicks. To me, the very best songwriters are the ones who know how to get inside a listener’s brain and play with your head and your heart at their whim. They know exactly what they’re doing and they know how to make you feel what they want you to feel. You may not know why you’re feeling it, but they do. This is my list of the 10 people who have a real road map of your emotions and know how to use it. Some would be on my list of favorite bands/artists also, but it’s not exactly the same thing—in the way that Citizen Kane is a masterfully made movie, but your favorite is Coming To America. These are the masters in my book. —ANTHONY RANERI
[Ed. note: Anthony Raneri hand-selected the following songs as representations for each songwriter’s work.]
JOSH CATERER, SMOKING POPES
CHRIS DIFFORD & GLENN TILBROOK, SQUEEZE
BENNY ANDERSSON & BJORN ULVAEUS, ABBA
MICHAEL “OLGA” ALGAR, TOY DOLLS
JOHN FLANSBURGH & JOHN LINNELL, THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS
RANDY NEWMAN
PAUL SIMON
PAUL McCARTNEY, THE BEATLES
JEFF LYNNE, ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA
BILLY JOEL
Catch Bayside frontman Anthony Raneri on tour this summer in support of his new solo EP, Sorry State Of Mind, out June 30 on Hopeless Records:
w/What’s Eating Gilbert, Allison Weiss
JUL 9 THU Masquerade Atlanta, GA
JUL 10 FRI Crowbar Ybor City, FL
JUL 11 SAT The Social Orlando, FL
JUL 12 SUN 1904 Music Hall Jacksonville, FL
JUL 14 TUE Cat’s Cradle Back Room Carrboro, NC
JUL 15 WED Jammin Java Vienna, VA
JUL 21 TUE Grog Shop Cleveland Heights, OH
JUL 23 THU The Shelter Detroit, MI
JUL 24 FRI Double Door Chicago, IL
JUL 25 SAT The Demo St Louis, MO
JUL 26 SUN Record Bar Kansas City, MO
JUL 28 TUE Marquis Theater Denver, CO
w/Laura Stevenson, Allison Weiss
JUL 29 WED Kilby Court Salt Lake City, UT
JUL 31 FRI El Corazon Seattle, WA
AUG 1 SAT White Eagle Portland, OR
AUG 3 MON Bottom of the Hill San Francisco, CA
AUG 4 TUE Constellation Room Santa Ana, CA
AUG 5 WED The Echo Los Angeles, CA
AUG 6 THU House of Blues – Voodoo Room San Diego, CA
AUG 7 FRI Rebel Lounge Phoenix, AZ
AUG 8 SAT The Works Albuquerque, NM
AUG 10 MON Gas Monkey FREE SHOW Dallas, TX
AUG 11 TUE Stubbs Austin, TX
AUG 12 WED Fitzgerald’s Houston, TX
AUG 14 FRI Mercy Lounge Nashville, TN
