Now that the RMP website has been updated, and our trailer is finally ready for viewing, we thought that now would be a good time to utilize our blog. Be sure to check here for the most up to date information on our various projects since we can access the blog directly without going through a webmaster.

Information posted on this blog may vary from production updates from our documentary film entitled The Eventful Life of Al Hawkes to commentary on current events, the Boston Red Sox, old-time music, transportation policy in the northeast, architecture, vaudeville history, vernacular humor, fishing, mountain top removal, bluegrass music, oral history, sports history, sound art, artists with disabilities, the Great Depression and film theory...

So without further ado I hereby inaugurate the official Rockhouse Mountain Productions Blog-

Film Update- The film now has a title! The project known for the past year or so as "The Al Hawkes Film" will hereafter be known as The Eventful Life of Al Hawkes. The trailer is done and we are now in the process of trying to find a fiscal sponsor through which to apply for production grants. We recently met with Al and will be working with him throughout the next couple weeks on a number of different projects. Tim and Al will be following up on an interview they did with Maine Country music legend/humorist, Betty Gribbin, by digitizing a rare video recording of the Ken Mackenzie variety show that features Betty. Background on the Ken Mackenzie show can be found here

Andrew and Alyce recorded Al's performance at the Portland Museum of Art on Sunday March 22nd.


Tim and Al will also be releasing a profile of bluegrass musician, Dayton Serber who has been lovingly maintaining the tomb of an unknown Confederate Soldier in Gray, Maine for over 30 years.

Within the next few weeks we hope to begin a series of interviews with Al that specifically focuses on his technical knowledge as a music producer.


In other news...
A new project is in the planning stages to host a participatory ethnography of archives and libraries. The aim is to find a format (perhaps through this blog) for participants to post observations, photographs, blueprints, documents etc... that presents a specific archive or library location in an ethnographic context. Participants are encouraged to start with their local library or historical society and must at the very least include a photograph of the exterior. Other information such as the date of the buildings construction, the name of the architect, analysis of architectural style (including the relationship between the main building and any additions or renovations) and observations on the current social use of the building will also be encouraged.