According to E! News, 17-year-old mother Jamie Lynn — who, until now, has only been heard singing the theme song to her "Zoey 101" Nickelodeon show — is eager to get a country album out. An unnamed source told E! that Spears has been quietly working on an album since the fall and is looking for a record deal as we speak.

The dusty trail she's setting out on is well-trod by more than a dozen pop stars who've turned their backs on Los Angeles over the past couple years in search of gold in the Tennessee hills. Some made that tricky crossover look easy. Others? Not so much.

So, Jamie Lynn, we offer you a cautionary peek at what your future might hold:

Jessica Simpson: Debut country album, Do You Know, was released last year as her pop and movie career continued to fizzle out. Had a hit single with "Come on Over," and the album has sold decently, though she had some trouble at first convincing skeptical country fans she was legit.

Jewel: With her pop career also on the wane, the "You Were Meant for Me" singer released her country debut, Perfectly Clear, in 2007, debuting at #1 on the Billboard country-album chart. She's had mixed success so far but has become a staple as a judge and host on the reality show "Nashville Star" and gets extra credit for being married to one of the toughest rodeo cowboys around.

Bon Jovi: After a chart hit with the single "Who Says You Can't Go Home," featuring Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles, the New Jersey boys went all in with the pedal-steel-ified Lost Highway. The album became their first to debut at #1, and it sold more than 3 million copies worldwide, but critics, and some fans, couldn't shake the feeling that the move was a bit too calculated.

Kid Rock: Rock's a funny case. The Detroit native, who started out as a rapper who rocked and has slowly tuned into a rocker who occasionally raps, has long flirted with elements of country. But with last year's massive hit single "All Summer Long," Rock bit down hard on Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" and, thanks to his good-ol'-boy antics, has appeared at the Country Music Awards (with Lil Wayne, no less) and is slated to play the Stagecoach Music Festival in April.

Snoop Dogg: The news was not so good for the D-O-double-G when he tried to get his giddy-up on with the ill-conceived country homage to women, weed and Johnny Cash, "My Medicine." The 2008 single tanked, and country fans smelled a marketing ploy right off ... and probably something else, if they were at the CMT Music Awards when Snoop showed up.

What do you think? Does Jamie Lynn have a shot at country success?

So far, Jamie Lynn Spears appears to have taken the troubles faced by her sister, Britney, to heart as she celebrates the birth of her first child. The 17-year-old singer/actress, who delivered a baby girl on Thursday, recently bought a house near her hometown of Kentwood, Louisiana, and settled down with fiance Casey Aldridge, 19. She also tried to stay well away from the glare of the Hollywood paparazzi as she prepared to be a mom.

In addition to getting her GED earlier this year, the "Zoey 101" star has said she plans to take a hiatus from work in order to concentrate on being a mother. But that hasn't stopped some social critics from lamenting the seemingly glamorous take on teen pregnancy some high school students might be getting from the tabloid coverage of Spears' baby, as well as the nonjudgmental messages of recent accidental-pregnancy movies "Juno" and "Knocked Up."

On Thursday — the same day that Time magazine's Web site posted a story on a teen pregnancy "pact" in Massachusetts among 17 high school girls — the CEO of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy released a statement in response to the Spears birth.

"Every child deserves a warm welcome, and we hope that Jamie Lynn Spears' new daughter, Maddie Briann, will be surrounded by much love, support and comfort," Sarah Brown wrote. "But the media frenzy that is sure to now erupt, as it did when this pregnancy was announced
last December, provides every parent, teacher, media outlet and more a chance to state the truth: Babies need and deserve adult parents who are committed to each other and to decades of being the best parents possible.

"Hundreds of thousands of teens and unmarried young adults get pregnant and become parents every single year, and few of them have Hollywood beginnings or endings," the statement continued. "Getting pregnant and bearing children is one of the most important steps that any person ever takes, and it deserves careful planning, thought and consideration."

The group's response comes amid reports that the teen birth rate was up by 3 percent in 2006, the first increase in nearly 15 years. According to the campaign, at present, three in 10 girls in the United States become pregnant by age 20, with more than 729,000 teen pregnancies annually.

How do you think Jamie Lynn has handled her pregnancy? Let us know!