Gone Country: Jessica Simpson Tackles Nashville

Photo courtesy of JessicaSimpson.com

June 9, 2008 — Jessica Simpson spent plenty of time in Music City last week courting fans at the CMA Music Festival. She did a walk-on appearance at LP Field to chat with GAC’s Storme Warren, who hosted the opening-night concert, and she signed autographs at the Nashville Convention Center.

Her first country single, "Come On Over," got off to a great start, too, debuting at No. 41 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, the highest first-week performance ever for a solo artist who’s never previously appeared on that national list.

Jessica has been told repeatedly that people expected to hate the song, but once they heard it, they decided they liked what she’d done.

"I think [they’re skeptical] because my name is attached to it," she told The Tennessean. "Or maybe they thought that I was just trying to stomp on their ground for a little bit and see what I could do, and then just go back and make another pop record. But I’m planning on making country for the rest of my life, and I don’t want to go back to that other world."

Some pop and rock acts have transitioned successfully into country in the past. Conway Twitty was the first to do it, in the 1960s, and that path has been followed to varying degrees by Dan Seals, Exile and Bon Jovi. But country has also seen plenty of artists try briefly to make it in country, then walk away after one or two projects. Among them are LaToya Jackson, Chubby Checker and Orleans.

In Jessica’s case, she had been clamoring about doing country for about six years, but was continuously rebuffed by her record company.

"I got signed when I was 17, and I was just happy to have a record label," she said. "I thought what I was supposed to do was go in the studio and sing, and I was just excited for the opportunity. By album three, I was writing in Nashville, and it sounded kind of country, and the label said, ‘Absolutely not. We signed you as a pop artist.’"

Willie Nelson encouraged her to pursue country when she worked with him on the Dukes Of Hazzard movie in 2005. Now that she’s got her first album in the genre on the way, Jessica insists she’s making a commitment and that even if this album flops, she’ll continue recording country projects in the future. She’ll finance them herself, if that’s what it takes.

"I’m not giving up," she said. "I’m going to make country music."