YOUR AD HERE »

Irish pub inspired Alicia Stockman’s new single, ‘The Porter House’

Singer-songwriter Alicia Stockman, known for her work in the cover band Bonanza Town, has released her debut original single, “The Porter House.” The song was inspired a pub in Ireland.
Photo by Hallie Wilkinson

Park City-based singer-songwriter Alicia Stockman’s new single, “The Porter House,” is available on all major digital music services such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Google Play, Pandora, Shazam and YouTube. For information, visit aliciastockman.com.

Alicia Stockman knew she wanted her debut single to be something special.

The Park City singer-songwriter, who is known for her cover work with the local band Bonanza Town, wanted the song, titled “The Porter House,” which was released on Nov. 2, to show off her independence.

“I’ve been working on my own songs to create some differentiation between what I do as myself and what I do with Bonanza Town,” she said.



“The Porter House” was inspired by a bar Stockman and her boyfriend discovered in Westport, County Mayo, during a three-week trip to Ireland last April.

I felt I wanted to do it right and in a way that is not only meaningful to me, but meaningful to them…” Alicia Stockman,singer-songwriter

“It had been raining that day, and we stumbled into the Porter House Pub,” she said. “We found out that there would be live music that night, so we went back later to hear the music, and we fell in love with the place.”



The couple returned the pub the next night and made friends with the staff and musicians.

Stockman was also able to sit in a jam session.

“It was laid back and friendly, and you could tell everyone loved music,” she said. “I remember how they all sang along to the songs.”

Stockman began writing the song when she returned to Park City.

“As I wrote, I kept thinking about what the trip did to me with my own connection with that community,” she said. “So I modeled the song after a traditional Irish pub song.”

A unique challenge of writing “The Porter House” was doing the place justice, according to Stockman.

“Because it’s based on a real place and real people, like the bartender whose name is Pat, I knew it had to ring true,” she said. “I’m not from Ireland, and I only have a quarter of Irish ancestry, but this was my tribute to this place. And I felt I wanted to do it right and in a way that is not only meaningful to me, but meaningful to them.”

[swift-blockquote]

Stockman and her band – keyboardist Pete Killian, drummer Nick Price and bassist Nick Steffens, along with backup singer Meg Frampton – recorded the song in their Salt Lake City rehearsal space.

Stockman sent recordings to Charlie Vela, a producer in Austin, Texas.

“He mixed it all for us, but not before he told us to rerecord some of the tracks,” Stockman said with a giggle. “It was a steep learning curve.”

Vela also added some percussion to the track, she said.

The song is available on all major digital music services.”The Porter House” wasn’t going to be Stockman’s first single, she confessed.

“I had another song that I had written a few years ago, but then ‘The Porter House’ happened and the more we played it, the more we liked it,” she said.

“The Porter House,” although finished and available to the public, is a new beginning for Stockman.

“This is not the only one we’ll do,” she said. “My next single is planned to come out on Nov. 30. I have a plan to release a new song every month.”


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Park City and Summit County make the Park Record's work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.