SHE’S GONE COUNTRY: Norah Jones is, of course, best known for her jazzy, piano-laced albums that have won her enough Grammys to require a second mantel. But the Booker T. alum also likes classic country, an itch she scratches through her side project, the Little Willies. The band’s new album, For the Good Times, features a number of covers and is receiving fairly strong reviews. “Timeless gems such as ‘I Worship You,’ ‘Fist City,’ ‘Permanently Lonely’ and ‘Jolene’ are lovingly given the group’s jazzy country-folk treatment,” Mario Tarradell writes on dallasnews.com. “Ms. Jones sounds both sultry and world weary on the title track, one of Kris Kristofferson’s best-loved ballads; she summons a hint (just a hint) of unruliness on Loretta Lynn’s ‘Fist City,’ and imparts an edge to the entreaties in Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene,’ says Nate Chinen on nytimes.com.

MUSIC BITS: Kelly Clarkson talks about her new album and music-industry struggles with Guy Raz (npr.org h/t dfw.com) … Burning Hotels cover LMFAO’s “Party Rock” (DC9 at Night) … Fort Worth’s Christian Lynette Williams talks about recording a song while holding a newborn. (fwweekly.com)

LOOKING BOTH WAYS: The Crow Collection of Asian Art’s current show, “Qiu Anxiong: Animated Narratives,” is a mix of the Shanghai artist’s paintings and videos. And in his Front Row review, Ben Lima writes that with one video that references an ancient Chinese text, Qiu has one eye on the future and another on the past. “Qiu’s contemporary version of these tales addresses two complementary themes: industrialization’s threat to the global environment, and globalization’s threat to traditional Chinese culture.” Catch the show through Feb. 5.