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Jamie Lynn Spears ‘ppreciates family life and her musical ‘Journey’

Me and Jamie Lynn Spears got on the phone. I know it’s grammatically wrong to say “me and Jamie,” but me and her, we both got Louisiana roots. (I went to LSU to fix my fancy journalism grammar.)

Spears is gonna be in Vegas next week to sing a free show at 8 p.m. Monday at Gilley’s Saloon, Dance Hall and Bar-B-Que in Treasure Island.

That’s where Spears (sister of Britney and former Nickelodeon star) will do her song “How Could I Want More” from her first country music album, “The Journey.”

Right off the bat, I told her I miss all the delicious Louisiana food she eats all year.

“My husband does a lot of offshore fishin’,” Spears said. “So he’ll go fishin’ in the Gulf and bring home fresh fish to eat for us. You kinda get spoled.” (Dear editors: The word is “spoled,” not “spoiled.”)

“I love your accent,” I said.

“I know. I say things a little different,” she said.

I saw a picture of Spears climbing on top of some trailer contraption to watch other country singers.

“Me and my Daddy, being from Louisiana, we knew there was a way to get on top of the camper. So we went and found this ladder. Eric Church was playin’. And I got to sit up there with my Daddy and the band.

“It was perfect. It was one of those things you gotta ’preciate because you’re really blessed to do that, and you never know, you might not ever be able to do that again.”

I also saw a video where Spears pulled her little girl on stage and sang “Happy Birthday” to her in front of a crowd that sang along.

“It was just one of those cool moments I’ll never forget, and she’ll never forget,” she said. “The cool thing about doing this stuff in the summer and festivals is a lot of them are family oriented. And I have my little girl, and I have my husband.

“The thing that’s been really neat for me to experience is you can bring your family, too.”

I told Spears I interviewed her dad this year, and he was guarded at first because he was trying to make sure I wasn’t one of those TMZ people. But then he realized I was all right, and he showed me a picture of his LSU barbecue grill.

“Yeah, that’s his cookin’ trailer he brings everywhere to cook,” she said. “He actually just did a meet-and-greet for one of my shows, and brought his trailer out, and cooked a bunch of food for everybody.”

Her dad was sweet to me, I said.

“Yeah, he’s got his guard up, but he’s got a good heart,” Spears said.

He has to be guarded. He has daughters, I said.

“Exactly,” she said.

I told Spears the one weird thing about her and her family that confuses me.

“Why is everybody a Jamie? You’re a Jamie, your husband is a Jamie, your dad is a Jamie. Are you trying to Jamie-fy the world? I don’t understand what’s happening.”

“That’s a good question to ask my parents because I didn’t name myself,” Spears said. “But my Dad’s name is Jamie, my Mom’s name is Lynne, so I guess they got really clever and named me Jamie Lynn.”

“That was a short naming-meeting,” I said.

“And honestly,” Spears said, “my dad’s real name and my husband’s real name is James. … So they’re just copying me. On my birth certificate is ‘Jamie.’ I don’t know why they want to be so much like me.”

I asked Jamie how many kids she and her husband Jamie are gonna have. Two? Five? Ten?

“I definitely for sure want to have two more kids. But the time thing is what’s tricky for me. I want to be settled in my work, and a time and place where I can take a break and focus on having my next child.”

“Are you gonna name any of them Jamie?” I said.

“Um,” she said, then she paused for a comedy beat (a three count) like the actress she is. “I would think we would try to avoid that.”

Doug Elfman’s column appears on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Email him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/entertainment/reel.

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