Elmer Hawkes has recorded five albums of original songs on vinyl, including Songs For The Stagehands, described as a small masterpiece by the Boston Globe's Steve Morse. His song The Man Who Built Carnegie Hall is in the Smithsonian Institute as a part of its Fast Folk CooP project.

His career as a performer has taken him from Cambridge's Passim Club to the Hatch Shell on the Boston Esplanade, from Walpole prison to a national television performance in Peru. His songwriting output includes two CDs, The Songs of Elmer Hawkes performed by various artists, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, a twenty-two song stage musical based upon Victor Hugo's novel of 1831, Notre Dame de Paris.

His travels throughout Latin America, Asia and Africa have resulted in the award-winning film series, Worlds Together, which details foreign cultures for old and young alike. His latest films are Southern Mexico–A Portrait, Central Mexico–A Portrait and Latin America–A Portrait.