Alli Sims drives on

Hers is a name that might sound familiar, whether you surf Web sites like TMZ and Perez Hilton or just take note of the tabloid rack while in line at the supermarket. As Britney Spears’ personal assistant, Alli Sims made plenty of headlines and photo spreads during the pop singer’s very public meltdown and recovery. Now, after years in the shadow of her friend the superstar, the Baton Rouge native is ready to start her own, long-on-hold music career.

Ironically, it was Spears herself who heard one of Sims’ demos and encouraged her to quit being an assistant to pursue music of her own. That was before Spears and Sims parted company, before Spears’ father Jamie was named temporary conservator of her welfare. “I still lived with her at that point, but she hired another assistant, so I started working on my music again,” Sims says. “Because of some of the people in charge of her right now, we haven’t gotten to talk in a long time.”

In May, Sims, who began piano lessons at age 4 and started singing soon after, released her debut single “Driving Blind,” an emotive pop song about missing someone.

“Every person has either had a broken heart, experienced a friend move away, or had someone close to them pass away,” Sims says. “What I listen to and what happens to me in daily life influences what I write and the emotion that I put behind each song.”

“Driving Blind” is a primer for her debut full-length record, which is under way but has no title or release date yet. In the meantime Sims has had the chance to visit her parents and friends back in Baton Rouge. She enjoyed the relative calm before the potential storm of bloggers and critics ready to pounce on her music the way the paparazzi descend on her at Hollywood clubs and restaurants.

She’s often referred to derisively as Spears’ “Cousin Alli,” and she says being gossiped about and dished on before starting a music career has been like walking a tightrope. So far, launching a career in music has been a challenge. Sims says the scrutiny and pressure even gave her second thoughts about it.

“Because of all the sites and magazines, I think it’s more nerve-wracking, because people know what I’m working on, and so there is that fear of not succeeding,” Sims says. “It definitely makes you ask yourself if you really love it enough to give up the privacy that other people have. But it’s one of those things that when you really love singing, you’re just drawn to doing it. It’s not something I can ignore.”