Country singer Sammy Kershaw may be running for lieutenant governor of Louisiana but he still has a bankruptcy mess to deal with here in Tennessee. Last week, the bankruptcy trustee filed motions to auction off Kershaw's two tour buses. This follows a June court filing that converted his initial Chapter 13 filing to Chapter 7, a complete liquidation of eligible assets to pay off creditors. The conversion to Chapter 7 (a copy available at this link) came the same month he jumped into the running for lieutenant governor of Louisiana. He's running as a Republican, giving Kershaw and presidential candidate Fred Thompson something else in common. Thompson and country singer Lorrie Morgan, Kershaw's wife since 2001, had dated for a couple of years in the mid-1990s. Kershaw and Morgan have had their troubles. In 2003, they obtained court orders of protection against each other as they were apparently breaking up. They reconciled. Kershaw initially filed bankruptcy in February. That filing and the conversion to Chapter 7 list the debts as mostly business related. Of course, he's self-employed as an entertainer. His bankruptcy attorney Paul Jennings in Murfreesboro said in February that the bankruptcy was due mostly to the singer's failed business Hotchickens.com, a restaurant he started with Morgan several years ago. They opened the restaurant in Whites Creek but closed more than a year ago. Lawsuits began piling up as vendors sought payment. Kershaw also hasn't had a hit record in years. That and the failed restaurant apparently affected his ability to meet financial obligations, including alimony to his ex-wife Kim Kershaw. Court documents show that he owes $89,676 in domestic support.Jennings was out of the office and couldn't be reached to answer why the conversion to Chapter 7. Trustee Sam Crocker also couldn't be reached. It could be that Kershaw simply didn't have the financial resources to make a payment plan under Chapter 13 and is just simply starting over. In the June filing, Kershaw listed $1.2 million in secured and unsecured liabilities and assets of $874,910. A portion includes $200,000 in IRS federal tax liens. The trustee wants to auction off the tour buses, a 1998 Provost and a 1999 Provost, to satisfy debt of $250,189 to SunTrust Bank and a repair lien of $1,434. But proceeds also would help reduce the balance on child support and alimony.
