Carrie Underwood (Photo: Frazer Harrison)Carrie Underwood may have struggled with some vocal problems over the past few days, but she showed fans there's absolutely nothing wrong with her heart this holiday season.

The American Idol alum lost her voice earlier in the week following the Chicago date on her 2012 Blown Away tour. She decided to attempt her next show in Des Moines on Friday night--and managed to power through 90 minutes of it--but ultimately had to shave a few songs off the setlist.

Dissatisfied with what she considered a subpar performance, Underwood hoarsely told the crowd that she planned to return their money right back to their city. "I feel real guilty about making any money on this show tonight," she noted. "So whatever I'm making is just going to go right back into this community."

Taylor Swift (Photo: Kevin Kane)Taylor Swift received a very unwelcome surprise shortly after her birthday when a knife-carrying intruder managed to trespass on her Nashville estate early Friday morning.

Luckily, Swift was not on the property--which is believed to be the house she bought for her parents in 2011--when 24-year-old Jake Kulke was arrested on the scene. The superstar was overseas in England celebrating with new boyfriend Harry Styles at the time of the intrusion.

Jacob Kulke (Photo: Mugshots.com)According to local news, Kulke made it over a fence and a secured gate before being stopped by security. He told them that Swift was his girlfriend, that he had been in contact with her via social media, and that he wished to surprise her for her birthday, which fell on Thursday.

Taylor Swift/FacebookTaylor Swift celebrated her 23rd birthday on Thursday by premiering her 23rd music video, for the single "I Knew You Were Trouble"--and, while she was at it, she set another unofficial milestone. The new clip is easily the least country-feeling video she's ever made. Like, ever.

WATCH TAYLOR'S NEW VIDEO FOR "I KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE" HERE!

Furthermore, it seems to set a dividing line between her youth and her adulthood. Fans of Swift's typically romantic, breezy, and/or cute clips will no doubt be very surprised by her newest, which portrays Swift in a dark and distinctly mature light. There's no flowers, birdcages, squirrel pajamas, or references to Tim McGraw to be found here.

The video opens up with a lengthy spoken intro of Swift musing about a bad-boy love--the "Trouble" she knows she's supposed to avoid--offering up such commentary as: "How can the devil be pulling you towards someone who looks so much like an angel when he smiles at you?"

Viewers are then taken through a gritty-feeling storyline in which Swift finds herself drawn into a world that turns out to be a bit too fast and dark for her liking.

Hunter Hayes (Photo: Frederick Breedon IV)Hunter Hayes is only 21 years old, but the rising crossover star has already built a resume musicians twice his age--or, really, of any age at all--would love to claim. This year alone, he's won a prestigious Country Music Association award, two American Country Awards (for his No. 1 country and Top 10 all-genre digital hit "Wanted"), and is nominated for three Grammy Awards--one in the all-genre category of New Artist.

Additionally, he's got a seasoned touring resume, having opened for such arena-packing artists as Rascal Flatts, Taylor Swift, and most recently Carrie Underwood. He can play a staggering amount of instruments, writes and produces his own material, and generally has proved himself seemingly effortlessly as a true musical phenomenon.

Hayes additionally gathered crossover attention when he charmed viewers at the 2013 Grammy Nominees Concert earlier this month by singing the single off of each nominated album in the Best Pop Vocal Album category. His fresh-faced good looks, enthusiastic attitude, and undeniable appeal have triggered talk that he's poised to conquer the world of pop music, as well as country. What do you think?

We talked to an upbeat, energetic Hayes shortly after his showstopping multi-genre performance at the Grammy Nominees show and found out what he thought about the whole matter, himself--as well as a few other things that happened this year!

Cash in the studio (Johnny Cash Online)This holiday season is a special one for Johnny Cash fans, who doubtlessly are putting the Man In Black's new boxed set, Johnny Cash - The Complete Columbia Album Collection on their Christmas lists. The extensive collection covers the astonishing effect Cash had on modern music over half a century, as well as offers aural treats for his most devoted followers.

In this exclusive interview, Steve Berkowitz and Gregg Geller, the boxed set producers, talk about the unique qualities of Cash's mono recordings--which were carefully unearthed from the original tapes and included in the set. The result allows listeners a replicate of the way people actually heard recorded music in the '50s and '60s.

"It was the mono mix that was more carefully tended to," notes Geller, when comparing the sound to the more common studio mix. "So we felt it was a great benefit to make this material available in mono for the first time."

Nick 13'Tis the season for music aficionados to gather their top 10 album lists for the year, many of them with predictable results. It's safe to say, however, that country/Americana artist Nick 13--who is also employed as the lead man for psychobilly (if you're not familiar with the genre, just consider it not country) outfit Tiger Army--has one of the more eclectic and interesting compilations this December.

Nick's list includes a variety of country artists ranging from Jim Lauderdale to Dwight Yoakam, electronica/dance (Blaqk Audio, a duo comprising his good friends Davey Havok and Jade Puget), a bit of hardcore punk, some alt-rock, and even a little of the not-quite-easily pigeonholed (Shooter Jennings, Calexico).

Luke Bryan admires his ACA guitar awards (Photo: Frazer Harrison)To say that Luke Bryan had an overwhelming night at Monday's 2012 American Country Awards is about as obvious as, well, a tanline. The singer cleaned up with a whopping nine awards, winning every single category he was nominated in--including the top honors of Artist of the Year and Album of the Year (for Tailgates And Tanlines).

As might be expected, Bryan was buzzing with excitement after the show, apologizing for "rambling" and explaining that his mind was going "brrrrrrrr!" He did manage to get across many heartfelt thoughts regarding his extraordinary year, which also included an American Music Award for Favorite Male Country Artist, plus the announcement of his first headlining tour which will kick off in early 2013.

"Rarely am I rendered speechless, but I truly am," Bryan said backstage. "I don't know how to formulate a series of words that can truly tell how appreciative I am to the fans for voting and making a night like this possible."

"I always cherish fan-voted awards and hold them dear to my heart," he noted, adding, "Tonight will be a whole other level...to win artist of the year, in a class with people who've been out there certainly working as hard as I have. It's truly an honor. I just hope I can sit down and figure out where to go from here!"

Chenoweth and Adkins (Photo: Mark Davis)The question on everyone's mind--well, at least those who have watched the program in its past two years--would 2012 be the year that the American Country Awards finally seals its credibility in the awards show game?

Well...yes and no.

Thinking positively, the show at this point has hung in for three seasons and draws what seems to be an enthusiastic voting poll (the awards are wholly fan-voted). It continues to showcase newer talent--Jason Aldean, who was pushed this year into bona fide household-name territory, swept the ACAs last year. The same thing may happen to Luke Bryan who dominated this year's winners list by scooping up everything he was nominated for.