Country singer Lorrie Morgan's hot chicken may have burned a hole in your stomach, but the restaurant Hotchickens.com that she started with her husband and fellow country singer Sammy Kershaw apparently was burning a hole in his pocket.

Business debt from Hotchickens is primarily what pushed Kershaw to file Chapter 13 bankruptcy earlier this week, said Paul Jennings, the singer's Murfreesboro attorney. Jennings added that the bankruptcy has no impact whatsoever on the music side of Kershaw's life. He will assume whatever contracts he has and continue to perform on them, He said.

"It's just a situation where there are a bunch of suits being filed and a bunch of payments coming due at the same time," Jennings said. Robert Orr-Sysco Food Services won a judgment of $23,000 against Kershaw and Hotchickens last year. Jennings said Nashville Restaurant Supply also filed a lawsuit seeking payment, and the Internal Revenue Service is trying to collect on some debt as well. As part of the bankruptcy, Jennings said, the IRS debt is being restructured.

Hotchickens.com opened several years ago in Whites Creek, but Jennings said it didn't last long and closed at least a year ago. "That was a misadventure," he said of the business.