Taylor Swift used her 23rd birthday yesterday to show the world that she’s not a little girl anymore by debuting her video for “I Knew You Were Trouble.” In the video for the third single from her Red album you won’t find one sundress, one glimpse of Paris, or even a flower. You will find an all grown-up Taylor Swift, although you may not recognize her at first.

Donning fedoras and flannel, sleeveless t’s and ripped jeans, and perhaps most shocking of all, a pink and blonde dip-dyed wig, Taylor stands in a parking lot looking around at the trouble that has been caused from her latest relationship. Different? Definitely. Believable? Not if you’ve been following Taylor’s career.

Wardrobe aside, this video provides for many of Taylor’s firsts. It is the first time she’s ever had an on-screen kiss in any video, it’s the first time as far as we can tell that she includes a spoken intro to the video, and it’s also the first time we’ve ever seen Taylor in a bar. A really tough, gritty bar.

That bar is one of the many settings in this video that portrays a punk lifestyle that just hasn’t been part of Taylor’s bag of tricks in the past. These settings are used as flashbacks from a time when she was happy with her boyfriend (Broadway star, Reeve Carney), to when she saw him cheating on her. A fight between her and her beau in a broken down apartment is also added in to make certain lyrics even more poignant; and to add to the “rougher side of the tracks” scenario Taylor’s trying to create.

The song is a good one, and definitely strays from Taylor’s musical roots, as does much of Red. But does this one go too far? While definitely not predictable, this one goes into a nearly surreal side of the sweet country girl we’ve seen with her past tracks, as well as videos. But, is that also the exact point Taylor’s trying to drive home? That’s for you to decide.

Check out the video here.

If you are in the mood for a little comedy but also want to hear some music and can’t seem to make up your mind, then don’t choose!  Weird Al Yankovic provides both that will having tapping your toes until you fall out of your seat laughing.  Even better than downloading a track onto your iPod is listening to the genius live and in person!  Fans are happy to know that Al is back on the road and touring the US once again.

So just what has the funny man been up to lately?  On September 25, 2012 “Weird Al: The Book” was released.  The book features stories and images of the man himself, spanning from his childhood and throughout his musical comedy life, until today.  As the funny man often parodies the popular things of the day it is also like a pop culture look back, from Madonna to Gaga, and all the good times Weird Al had poking fun at us all along the way.  Weird Al also recently appeared on The Annoying Orange comedy show on Cartoon Network, on the “Generic Holiday Special” singing a duet with the orange one himself.  Al was also a judge for the 10th annual Independent Music Awards, as he understands the importance of encouraging the independent spirit when it comes to music making.

Then of course there is the music!  In 2011 Weird Al released his 13th album entitled “Alpocalypse” which had songs like “Polka Face” and “TMZ”.  Some of his biggest hits to date are “Like a Surgeon”, “Eat It”, “White and Nerdy”, “Amish Paradise”, “Fat”, and “Don’t Download This Song”.  Of course every fan has their favorite Weird Al Yankovic song.

Currently the singer has a few shows already scheduled for the 2013 year.  On April 10th he will be in Raleigh, North Carolina performing at the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium.  On April 16th he will make his way down to Jacksonville, Florida to the Florida Theatre Jacksonville.  Finally on April 25th he will be at the Family Arena in Saint Charles, Missouri before heading to Canada for some further shows.  Be sure to check him out when his concert tour is near you!

The king of country music is on the road again, thrilling fans with his traditional Western trade mark that shot him to stardom in the 1980’s.  Beginning in his home state, Texas, he’ll be singing his way cross-country, from Oklahoma, to Utah, California, and finally hitting the Eastern Seaboard.

Born and raised in Texas, Strait began playing music while a teenager, joining a rock and roll garage band.  After his graduation, he signed on with the army.  After a two-year stint, he was stationed in Hawaii, where he began playing country music, initially with a military band called, Rambling Country.  In 1975, he left the army and returned to Texas, intent on finishing his education.  In between classes, he formed his own country band, Ace in the Hole.

Ace in the Hole never went anywhere, but George Strait had his eyes set on the country music charts.  Determinedly, he knocked on Nashville doors, but with very little success.  His big break came in 1979, when he became friends with Erv Woolsey, a Texas club owner who had once worked for MCA Records.  It was Woolsey who convinced some MCA executives to give the talented young musician a chance.  With Strait’s first single, “Unwound”, released in 1981, he skyrocketed to number one on the country music charts.

After that, it was platinum and gold for the country music singer, hitting the country music charts over and over again.  He never slowed down.  In 1992, he made his first movie, Pure Country, which featured him in the leading role.  He released a four-disc box set, “straight out of the Box”, in 1995.  By 1996, it had become one of five biggest selling box sets in country music.

He has continued to perform and produce country music, co-writing seven of the eleven songs on his 2011 album, “Here’s for a Good Time”.  Co-produced with Tony Brown, and recorded at Jimmy Buffett’s Shrimpboat Sound Studio in Key West, Florida, this makes his 39th studio album.

Tickets are selling fast, with some locations already sold out, so if your love is for country; check your schedule for the next George Strait performance.  Beginning at the United Spirit Arena, January 18, 2013, the tour ends back at his home state at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, June 1st.  Don’t miss your chance to see George Strait live, as it’s a performance you’ll never forget.

Metal Trash fans prepare to increase the tempo and turn up the volume in hard-hitting, classical annihilation style; Megadeth style, that is.  It’s the Countdown to Extinction of their twentieth anniversary tour, and the window to grabbing your favorite concert seat is small; very small.  Only three appearances left for this fabulous tour to get your adrenalin rushing and your blood pumping, and what will you say to your friends who thrashed it out live to the vigorous resurgence of hot metal’s favorite performers?

Dave Mustaine surges forward as the original band creator and only constant member, that has included twenty gifted artists in its long career.  Formally the lead guitarist for Metallica, he was expelled for bad behavior; that is drugs and alcohol and all the bawdy things rock and roll artists often do.  With his ejection, he wanted blood.  He wanted revenge, and formed the heavy metal group that trashes louder, sizzles hotter, and crunches out messages faster and heavier than anything ever heard before.

“Killing is My Business and Business is Good” muscled through into hot, heavy metal headlines in 1985, securing Megadeth’s place in the classical line-up of heavy metal.  But it wasn’t until they signed up with Capitol Records, who released “Peace Sells…  but Who’s Buying”, that they jumped to the top of record charts, with more than a million copies of the album sold in the United States alone.  The album’s title track, “Peace Sells”, ranked number 11 in VH1’s greatest metal songs, and was chosen as their first musical video to receive regular air play on MTV’s Headbanger Ball.

Has Mustaine gotten his revenge yet?  In January of 1988, Megadeth released the album, “So Far So Good”, hitting platinum in the United States, and featuring a cover version of the Sex Pistols, “Anarchy in the UK”, with lyrics altered by Mustaine.  Later, Mustaine admitted he simply heard them wrong, but who could blame him when he’s busy winding up the fastest, hottest music on stage?

Megadeth received International acclaim when they rolled onto stage with “Rust in Peace”.  For the first time in their rowdy career, the band remained sober while working on the album, reducing a few of their earlier production problems.  “Rust in Peace” debuted at 23 on the US billboard charts and number eight for the UK.  It sold over a million copies in the United States and received Grammy award nominations in 1991 and 1992 for Best Metal Performance.

Countdown to Extinction has been considered their finest performance, and is the theme for their twentieth anniversary tour.  Revel in the clash of the metals, as Megadeth is prepared to rock you down like you’ve never been rocked before.

The year 1964 is one heavily marked with history.  It was the year of the Kennedy’s, civil rights victories with the signing of the Civil Rights Act, and of musical highlights.  The Beatles were seizing the charts with number one hits and American pop music had come into its own.  Leading the American pop music industry was the unforgettable rhythm and blues icons, the Temptations.

It was quite a heyday.  Young girls screamed at the gates for “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”, the Temptations captured national attention with “My Girl” and at the same time, Motown jazz artists, The Four Tops, bumped into the number eleven place on the popular billboard charts with, “Baby, I Need Your Loving.”  Music had set a pace that would last for the next four decades.

The Four Tops have established themselves quite a career in the music industry.  Beside establishing a number of number one hits of their own, they have been paired with such musical greats as Diana Ross and the Supremes, and featured vocals with the Moody Blues, in the single, “A Simple Game”.  Although the song did not do well on American charts, it made number three in Great Britain.  They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1997.

The group has never stopped touring and recently joined forces with the magnificent vocal qualities of the Temptations.  The Temptations, listed by Rolling Stone as one of the top fifty bands of all time, recently completed a new CD, a concept album that features their music from its beginnings to present day, bringing the history of the award-winning group into its music.

The combination of the two groups on national tour is bound to please anybody whose tastes run deep in jazz, rhythm and blues, and popular music.  Still carrying the big band sound, along with the pleasing, perfect melody of blues artist voices in harmony, they are not only a nostalgic journey into the past, but a statement of modern day easy listening.

With an opening night at the Wilbur Theater in Boston December 5, the east coast tour winds up June 27, in Vienna, Virginia.  This may be your only chance to hear the two chart breaking groups together, and will certainly be considered history in the making.  Discover the quality that made the Temptations one of the most popular American groups to remain on the top billboard charts and the artistic performance of the Four Tops that put them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

We’ve been watching them turn their chairs around for three years now as coaches on The Voice and now for the fourth season, the show is saying good-bye to Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green. But only temporarily, and in the meanwhile, there are some other pretty big voices filling those chairs.

The voices, and new coaching style, will be those of Usher and Shakira, who will join current coaches Adam Levine and Blake Shelton while Christina and Cee Lo venture off into different projects.

“We’re artists first,” said Christina recently when talking about leaving the show to promote her current album Lotus. “In order to remain great coaches and stay relevant, we have to go out and we have to still tour, see our fans one-on-one. I have to feel creatively fulfilled in order for me to do my job as a coach and be on that show.”

And be on that show she will again. The leave for both Christina and Cee Lo, who will be performing at Planet Hollywood, is just for a season. In the meantime, what does Christina think of Usher stepping in?

“I have all the faith in the world that he will do a great job,” she says.

But she also has some words of advice for both of her successors. “Get ready, get ready for a wild ride!”

Sesame Street has been through a lot of turmoil in 2012, first with Mitt Romney and the Republican Party’s promise of cutting funding for PBS (which led to a massive campaign online to bash Romney for Muppet hating) as well as the recent news that the puppeteer behind Elmo, Kevin Clash, was accused of an unspeakable crime.  In fact, the latest news from the “block” (as in the street of Sesame) is that Elmo’s creator is taking a leave of absence.

However it appears that Clash is not necessarily fired, but is merely being given time to sort out his legal problems.  Sesame Workshop also went on record to say “Elmo is bigger than any one person and will continue to be an integral part of ‘Sesame Street’ to engage, educate and inspire children around the world, as it has for 40 years.”

So while Elmo is not in trouble, it is safe to say that Sesame Street may be feeling a bit frazzled after a tumultuous year.  (This was also the year Jerry Nelson, who voiced The Count, passed away) Of course, teaching children to slow down in adversity has never been in Sesame Street’s curriculum.  So it should surprise no one that the show must go on.  And the “show”, as in the live Broadway show of Sesame Street, has never been better!

One of the most successful shows the team has done has been “Elmo Makes Music”, an episode featuring Jenny, who shows her new Sesame Street friends that ordinary household items can be used to create musical instruments.  She then invites the audience to help sing along.  The show also features appearances by Cookie Monster, and Burt and Ernie, who do a 1970s spoof of “Saturday Night Fever Bert.”  And of course, it wouldn’t be Sesame Street without Big Bird who comes along for the ride.

Why not treat the whole family to Sesame Street?  Like any American Institution, Sesame Street keeps surviving through thick and thin, as it has transcended a show and become a part of the culture.  Perhaps like George Lucas’ Star Wars (recently purchased by Disney) or Fox’s The Simpsons, Sesame Street is simply too popular and beloved to ever stop entertaining!

Those looking for the perfect band to rock out to this spooky autumn will be happy to know that Alice Cooper is back on tour.  Don’t miss your chance to see the shocking legend himself live and in concert in your home town.

Blood, sizzling electric chairs, guillotines, creepy dolls, and snakes may sound like the terror you’d find at haunted houses, but those are in fact a list of things that can be seen at an Alice Cooper concert.  Think a mix of horror movie, live theater, and some great heavy rock songs and you have the first inkling of what an Alice Cooper concert is like.  There really is a mix of music and styles here, a sound for everyone from pop rock to industrial heavy metal, and back to what is known as art rock.

The man has had quite the decade too.  The original band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the man was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and he was given a degree from Grand Canyon University.  Of course the most important part to fans is the fact that he released a string of albums with some amazing songs.

In 2011 the singer released his 19th solo album from his long, four decade, career, entitled Welcome 2 My Nightmare.  This album is one of his highest ranking ones, with several popular hits.  Hit tracks included “I Am Made of You”, “Caffeine”, “The Nightmare Returns” and many more.  The songs off his newest album will be performed at his shows, along with fan favorites from the past.  “Poison”, “No More Mr. Nice Guy”, “Only Women Bleed”, “Halo of Flies” are some of his memorable songs, but every Cooper fan has their favorites.

The current tour is making stops in New York, Nevada, Washington, Colorado, California and a few other states as well as some stops in BC.  Fans of this shock rocker won’t want to miss this chance to see the legend on stage once again.  Hear brand new hits sung live as well as your favorite (and possibly shocking) songs in person again.  Buy your tickets today before the concert in your home town is sold out.

There is in everyone, a touch of the romantic, nostalgia for smoked filled dens, the clicking of wine glasses, and melancholy music filling the air.  Wherever he is at, B.B.  King gives you this feeling, bringing a definition to rhythm and blues that few have been able to rival.  For over sixty years, he has been hailed the king, occasionally playing with other blues icons, such as Gladys Knight, Randy Crawford and John Mayall.

His style is distinctly related to his guitar, a deeply instrumental approach, finding chords where one would have thought none existed, hanging on notes that linger in an evening air saturated with the ghosts of the fabulous era of rhythm and blues.  The music is haunting yet vibrant, bringing back lonely nights and the throbbing of the heartstrings.  His technique has influenced some of the world’s greatest music performers, including Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Jeff Beck.

B.B. King mixes traditional blues with jazz, pop, swing and jump to create his own unique and highly personal sound.  The master of electric guitar was inducted into the rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.  Rolling Stone listed him as number seven of the top one hundred greatest guitarists of all time, and Gibson’s ranked him as number seventeen.

B.B. King has performed tirelessly throughout his career, delivering an average of 250-300 concerts a year.  At the age of 87, he’s still going strong, giving fans one of the most memorable of musical experiences.

If you’ve never had the opportunity to hear the King live, now would be a very good opportunity to do it.  It’s not just a step into musical entertainment at its best, but music that spans the years, bringing with it the history of blues, jazz and rock and roll development.  Classical and sophisticated, yet plaintive and simple, it’s as easy to listen to with your blue jeans on as in a suit and tie ensemble.  Find out why B.B. King is considered one of the greatest blues players and guitarists that ever lived, while deepening your appreciation of music.

Jason Aldean is one of the biggest country artists that you can find hanging out on the charts right now, and he’s taking his show on the road with a “stadium tour” next year. But this isn’t just any tour, and these aren’t just any stadiums. Although not every venue will be at an actual stadium, those that are were all chosen for very specific reasons.

As Aldean tells it himself, it all began in Georgia. “Being from Georgia, and being a big [University of Georgia] fan, this was number one on my list, but they’ve never had a show here, so it was one of those things. ‘That would be really cool, but they’ve never done one before and I don’t know if they’ll let us do it.’ It started from there. This is probably the most excited I’ve ever been about any of my shows.”

And there’s a lot to be excited about. Aldean is in fact playing in Georgia, on April 13, 2013; and the other stadiums all “places that were special to me,” said Aldean. Those places are stadiums such as Wrigley Field and Fenway Park, the latter of which will go down in the history books. It will be the first time a country singer has ever played there when he takes the stage on July 13, 2013. He’ll play Wrigley Field a week later, on July 20.

These are the only three dates that have been announced so far, with Aldean visiting each city to announce the stop.