Cam Jones

Howie’s Pub

By Sara Hogan and Jessie Banhazl

Name: Cam Jones

Age: 33

Hometown: Portland, ME

Bar of choice: Howie’s Pub

Drink of choice: Miller High Life

Perched above the intersection of Washington Ave. and Veranda Street in Portland’s East Deering neighborhood is Howie’s Pub. It’s an honest-to-God American dive bar with TV-lined walls, a pinball machine, and a cheeky Pamela Anderson poster staring down at the patrons. It seems everyone here is drinking domestic beers, and there’s a sense that everyone knows each other. Still, newcomers are always welcome at Howie’s — just make sure you don’t enter through the front door. (It’s kind of a rule.)

Musician and TouchTunes jukebox aficionado Cam Jones was recommended to The Regulars by Howie’s owners, Adam Moore and Joe Hardy, and, charmingly, by Cam’s mom. Adam and Joe have owned Howie’s for seven years, having bought it from the eponymous Howie in 2017. When asked about Cam, Adam said, “He’s definitely been a heartbeat for this place, especially for us because he’s a younger, daily customer at the bar. It’s nice to have someone who is closer to our age that we can connect with and bounce ideas off of. He keeps us entertained at the end of the night, and you always know when Cam is on the jukebox.”

When did you start coming to Howie’s?

I gained real regular status in 2019. I always saw it from the street because I used to live in North Deering, and I would be at the stoplight and just see Howie’s Pub and thought I should go in there someday. One day I did. It was really nice to live near a place that was within stumbling distance. I do like how, even when it is really crowded in here, it’s not super overwhelming, and the service is really great. I live in Lewiston now but I’m still there almost every day.

What keeps you coming back?

I’m really chummy with Adam and Joe, and it’s also very cost effective. It’s a place where I don’t really get bothered, and I kind of like that. I like to just sit and be a barfly and chime into a conversation if I get pulled into one, but other than that, I just like to come here and decompress. I realized I hit regular status when one day, they saw me walking through the back door on the camera. I walked in and they slid a High Life down the bar. My badge of honor is when I convinced Joe to get Aperol in here. I knew about the “spaghett” before it really went up into the New England area. Now there’s one guy who asks for a “Cam Beer” when he wants Aperol in his High Life.

What’s the vibe at Howie’s?

I think it’s generally pretty open. There’s really no rules here other than (not entering through) the front door, and it’s not even a rule. You’re just kind of telling on yourself. It’s not a rough and tumble place; it’s always been very chill. When they open at 2 p.m., there’s a bunch of older guys that sit at the corner table. They’re all domestic drinkers, Miller Lite, Miller High Life, Budweiser. They’re here until four or five, and then there’s kind of the happy hour crowd. Then the young people come in at seven, eight o’clock. It’s a neighborhood bar. It’s been around forever and keeps the tradition of back when the neighborhoods were more prevalent and defined in Portland.

We heard you’re a musician. Can you tell us more about that?

I play bass and drums. I currently play with Dave Gutter from Rustic Overtones in his solo band. I would like to be doing music full-time. Pre-pandemic, I was on a trajectory to do that. I toured a lot, mostly in the United States and Canada. I did a little run in the UK and played some shows in France. I toured with a band that opened for the Goo Goo Dolls, that was a lot of fun.

What’s it like to be a musician on tour?
I equate touring to like a traveling circus. It’s almost like summer camp, which is something that I’ve always kind of gravitated to because I’m a summer camp kid. I guess that’s kind of why I like a “regulars” bar, too, because it’s kind of a weird adult summer camp. It can get a little crazy. And you know, they’re just people that we know each other’s names, but we don’t always say “hi” to each other. Sometimes we’ll talk, other times we won’t, but it’s comforting, and if they’re not there, it feels weird.

Do you play other kinds of music?
I also play in a wedding band, which is a big active enterprise. I’m a songwriter, too. I write stuff on my own but I’m very sloth-like in terms of my output, I just don’t do it as often as I want to. As a wedding band, it’s really nice to kind of slide into somebody’s life for a day, a very important day. Most of the time they go pretty well. Other times you can kind of call it and be like, “oh, this isn’t gonna last.” We actually had a bet about this one couple and they got divorced. I won the bet.

Have you seen anything wild at any of the weddings you’ve played?

It’s a lot of what I call “live, laugh, love core.” The last wedding we played was very “normie.” We played “Pony” by Ginuwine, which is one of the horniest songs I’ve ever heard, to very white people dancing with no rhythm. We were about to play our last song of the day, and the sister of the groom collapsed and had a full-blown seizure. As it was happening, the bride ran out of the barn to go to the house to get her phone, and she fell and broke her ankle. It was wild. The group was really drunk. It was really awkward, but funny in hindsight.

So what’s on the jukebox?

I might as well be a shareholder in TouchTunes! I think “Classic Rock” is a very non-abrasive, neutral music to play especially in a space Howie’s. I have an actual unironic love for Bob Seger. At a bar where we’re just hanging out and drinking, you need good background music.