It seems Jessica Simpson's country days are over. The pop-turned-country songbird has parted ways with Sony/BMG Nashville. Many are speculating that Simpson was dropped by the label, due to lackluster sales and a rough winter tour opening for Rascal Flatts, during which many of her shows were plagued with flubbed lyrics. But Simpson's camp insists she was never a permanent part of Sony's Music City family.

"She was on loan to Sony Nashville for her country album," a Simpson rep tells Us magazine, adding that the singer "is and has always been an Epic artist. She continues to be on Epic's label."

However, Simpson said in numerous interviews last year that her crossover to country was indeed permanent. She even said that if Epic would not support her release of a second country album, she'd take matters into her own hands.

"Then I'm going to pay for it myself," she told Nashville's Tennessean newspaper. "I'm not giving up, and I'm going to make country music ... It's a spiritual thing for me, like I know God has a plan and a purpose."

Simpson's first and only country album, 'Do You Know,' debuted at No. 1 on the country charts but has sold only around 170,000 copies since its release last September.