Its doubtful that folk singer Yusuf Islam, or the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens, expected his return to the musical stage to be met with such derision. He found a cascading wall of boos and fans darting out of the O2 Arena in Dublin. His well known anthems like “Wild World” and “Father and Son” were met with vigorous applause. but Stevens seemed to try his audience patience by presenting an impromptu 40-minute take on his new West End musical Moonshadow slapped into the middle of his set.

“Y Not,” the upcoming self-produced set from Ringo Starr, will be featuring several guest performers. They include Paul McCartney, Starr’s former band mate with the Beatles who will sing along with Starr on “Walk With You,” the fist single from the album. In addition McCartney will play bass on “Peace Dream,” another cut from the album.

While I’ve grown up and the glass isn’t quite so half empty anymore, I still expect Depeche Mode to put out quality like they did in Violator, but in holding these artists up to the mirror of themselves, they fail to reflect the best artists they can be. Thankfully certain new artists have stepped up to fill the gaping void. Tori you can sit down now because Regina Spektor is here and can make the piano do those naughty things that you once made your signature. Regina’s latest album Far continues to fulfill the promise she introduced us to on 2006′s Begin to Hope.

This winter Vampire Weekend, indie rock band, will be spending more time on the East as well as West Coast in support of their upcoming album “Contra.” The trek of nine dates will kick off in Portland, OR on December 10. This will be followed by four consecutive shows in California and Washington.

Lee Ann Womack has been added to the list of performers for George Strait’s forthcoming headlining tour to support “Twang,” his latest album. The outing, which will also feature Reba McEntire, will be kicking off in Baltimore on January 26. Dates have been set so far through a performance in Des Moines, IA on April 10 with visits to 18 cites in between.

After finishing up their tour of Europe, Alice in Chains is going to be headlining a few holiday concerts sponsored by radio before they set off in early 2010 for a headlining tour of North America to back “Black Gives Way to Blue,” the comeback album for the band. Early next month the band will be returning stateside for two performances. They will play in Las Vegas on December 11 and in Universal City, CA on December 12.

Canadian Jazz crooner Michael Buble released his new album “Crazy Love” in early October and is preparing a slate of US tour dates in its honor. Buble will start things off in Orlando, Florida on March 10 and wind his way to Los Angeles, California on April 9. The tour will hit 19-cities in all but the singer promises more dates will be unveiled early-2010. Full Michael Buble tour dates are listed below with venue information to be released in the coming week. Ticket onsale dates are also forthcoming and promise to be a hot commodity based on past Buble tours.

Brad Paisley had so much fun strumming out on his summer ‘American Saturday Night’ tour that he’s preparing to serve up a healthy showing of dates in 2010. The Brad Paisley tour that ran from June through October of 2009, will resume in January and run through the first of March. The first stop on the 19-city tour is San Antonio, Texas on January 7 and will find its way to Charleston, South Carolina to wrap things up on March 6.

American Greetings Corporation and the teen country music star have made a deal where Swift will be creating a line of greeting cards and related products. Zev Weiss, CEO of American Greetings Corporation, said that the abilities of the singer as a songwriter and storyteller make her a good fit for creating cards to appeal to a very broad audience.

Motley Crue are christening their latest “Greatest Hits” album release (11/17) with an assault on Canada. The 80s rockers will be taking their brand of metal to the Great North starting with Victoria, British Columbia on January 23 and play their way to Montreal, Quebec where they will close out on February 5. Members of the Motley Crue fan club can pickup their tickets this morning (11/17) at 10am off the band’s website while the remaining public has to wait for the official onsale date on Friday, 11/20. Tickets will be available from Ticketmaster.