Junior Parker Hall is passionate about guitar, inspired by his dad and uncle, who are both guitarists.
“[My family] got me a teacher when I was in fourth grade, and I stayed with that teacher for a few years until I started picking it up on my own,” said Hall. “In freshman year, I joined my first band and stayed with them for two years, and that really helped me improve.”
In addition to music, Hall began acting and modeling at two and a half years old, when his mom signed him and his brother, Grant Hall, a 2024 Lincoln graduate, to an agency in Portland. Now, Hall finds it difficult to balance schoolwork and social life with acting.
“ [It takes] up maybe five hours of your week learning and memorizing a script and filming it, and then sometimes getting coaching for it if it’s a big role. The payout is amazing if you get lucky, but in general, doing auditions as a high schooler is really hard,” said Hall.
Hall has acted in various commercials and TV shows, including a Netflix original show called “Trinkets” (2019). His experience on set was a positive one.
“They had catered food from some really good restaurants every day on set, and the cast in general was really nice to me. The lead in that show played a lead role in “Deadpool.” It was really cool being around them, especially as a fifth grader,” said Hall. “I also got my own trailer. The entire experience on set, especially with such a big production, is really magical to me.”
Junior Ari Romero has known Hall for two years.
“ He’s really funny. He can kind of turn everything into a joke, and he’s always super encouraging. He’s always going to be there for you,” said Romero. “Even if it’s some random thing that you’re doing, he’s going to show up and he’s going to support you.”
While Hall participates in several other hobbies, including track and field and computer science, his goals for this year involve music.
“ I want to get better at jazz guitar. I want to play more gigs with all the bands [and] maybe start my own band,” said Hall.
Readers can watch Hall perform with The Red Strings at the Waterfront Blues Festival this summer.