What we know about Jamie Lynn Spears is she shares DNA with pop princess Britney Spears, was on a Nickelodeon television show six years ago, and had a daughter when she was 16 years old.

What we don’t know about Jamie Lynn Spears is anything and everything else she has become since then.

But the younger Spears is looking to change all that by starting a new career. She is now singing country music — and is doing it quite well.

Spears released her first country single “How Could I Want More?” last November, which debuted at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs.

The single is a combination of sweet, honest lyrics paired with a surprising amount of Louisiana twang from the songstress, which seems to be a natural arrangement for Spears.

However, the release of her new single came as a surprise to many, partially because she gave little warning about what was to come last November.

Spears has fallen off the grid since 2007. In those years away from the spotlight, she has been hard at work on a career in country music, which she discussed in an interview with The Daily Beacon.

“After I had my little girl, I really took some time to figure out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life,” Spears said. “I wanted to do something that provided a good life for my daughter and ultimately something that would make her proud — and something that I love to do.

“I took these past three years to figure out who I am as an artist, as a mother, as a person, and now I’m finally able to get out there and show what I’ve been working on.”

While fans were somewhat surprised to hear of Spears’ country music endeavor — which she chose over the pop music industry her sister has dominated — it was a natural genre for Spears.

“People ask me (why I chose country) all the time,” Spears said. “I think because my sister is in pop and has done so well in that world, they assume I’ve lived that same kind of life. I never lived in LA. That was never really a lifestyle for me. I was always in Louisiana; I was born and raised there.”

For Spears, country was never really a choice — it was more of a path she was led down than a decision.

“There wasn’t really a decision where I said, ‘Hey, I’m going to do country music;’ it was more of an organic kind of set,” Spears said. “When I started writing, it’s just what came out. It was just my story, and it wouldn’t have made sense in any other genre.”

Though musically different from older sister Britney, Jamie Lynn took a page from her big sister’s playbook and applied it to her life in the country music industry.

“I think more than anything,” Spear said, “to see her work ethic and seeing her achieve such amazing things really motivated me to dig in and push myself and figure out how I could do that with my life and have those same accomplishments, but do something that I love.”

And for Spears, it’s more of the story country music allows her to tell through song that has drawn her to the genre.

“I went to Nashville and started writing about six years ago, and when I started writing, I really fell in love with the whole process,” Spears said. “When I tell my story, it just kind of made sense with country music.”

And her soon-to-be released debut album is full of stories from her life, ranging from meaningful songs such as “I Look Up to You” (which Spears wrote about sister Britney) to her slow, endearing debut single which was written about her now husband, Jamie Watson.

“It’s just kind of my story and a collection of different songs that tell people who I am,” Spears said. “And hopefully (the album) reaches people and they connect to the songs because I wrote this from an honest place in my heart, and hopefully they can feel that.”

Though Spears has had her share of the spotlight with her previous experience in her childhood television show, Zoey 101, the songstress has experienced a new kind of spotlight with her live shows.

“It’s scary to put yourself out there like that and not hide behind a camera — it’s just you,” she said. “It takes a lot more courage and confidence to put yourself out there.”

Spears will open for the Swon Brothers at the Cotton Eyed Joe tonight. The show is free, and doors open at 6 p.m.