2025 was an eventful year for 10 Items or Fewer. Thanks to all the venues, bands, fans, and other collaborators who worked with us to bring this music to life. And thanks especially to Jon, Rhiannon, Dan, Keely, and Matt for taking this journey with me... <more>

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It's Bandcamp Friday! So if you're looking to pick up a CD copy of 10 Items or Fewer's debut "The Fossil Record", or purchase a digital copy to support the project, [more]

Congratulations to Comrade Comrade on the release of “Sadly Temporary”, a debut collection I’ve had the honor of producing, mixing and mastering at Cool Cat Audio! I’ll drop the Bandcamp page in the comments. <more>

#Caturday Ernest takes a break from visiting relentless destruction across the house like a feline swarm of locusts, luxuriating in my guitar case’s plush interior for a brief and deceptively tranquil respite that might lurch back into mayhem at any moment.

Greetings new followers! We’re 10 Items or Fewer, a project based around the songwriting of yours truly (Mike Hallenbeck here). This music sifts the soil of Weird America to pull from all that twangs, jangles, and lilts. Thanks so much for following us! <more>

My phone helpfully assembled a "People & Pets" gallery for me, featuring myself, my wife Jen, Luke Skywalker, 10 Items or Fewer bassist Matt Regan and harmony vocalist Rhiannon Fiskradatz, and a guy who plays in @joefaheymusic.bsky.social's band, who's very nice, but who's name I don't know. <more>

It me!

Thanks to everyone who came out to see Eric Ziegenhagen with the 10 Items or Fewer Action Squad Beta trio (featuring myself, harmony singer Rhiannon Fiskradatz and guitarist Dan Gaarder) opening up! <more>

Final rehearsal (with Dan and Rhiannon) of the 10 Items or Fewer Action Squad Beta trio before our Bryant Lake Bowl show on Sunday Rocktober 19th at 7 pm, opening for Eric Ziegenhagen! <more>

Eric is coming all the way from Portland for this show, and I’m coming all the way from my house. Don’t let this idyllic diptych pass you by! It’s nice and early, so even without a disco nap you can still get home at a decent hour on a school night. <more>

Hey, this is a week away (in Chicago) and a little less than that (in Minneapolis):

The “Action Squad Beta” trio formation of 10 Items or Fewer that you’ll see at the Bryant Lake Bowl on Sunday Rocktober 19th, opening for @eziegen, amounts to an exercise in reductive arrangement focus. <more>

It’s Bandcamp Friday! And while you can hear songs from both Eric Ziegenhagen and 10 Items or Fewer at the Bryant Lake Bowl on Sunday Rocktober 19th at 7 pm, today is a chance to support us directly by purchasing our music! <more>

Chicago & Minneapolis, playing two shows this month: Sunday 10/19 at Bryant Lake Bowl (Twin Cities) with 10 Items or Fewer (trio) @10orfewer.bsky.social Wednesday 10/22 at The Hideout (Chicago) with Shredded Sun and Leigh Stein That's that!

Eric Ziegenhagen is fleeing antifa-ravaged Portland to bring you his songs! In Minneapolis on Sunday Rocktober 19th at Bryant Lake Bowl, you can catch the 10 Items or Fewer Action Squad Beta trio formation open for him at 7 pm .Ticket link in the replies!

Accordion overdubs at Cool Cat Audio on the upcoming 10 Items or Fewer album with the maestro himself, Jon Duncan! Two things I noticed after this session: 1. Making good music happen with good people has a way of lifting one’s spirits, a boon in times like these. <more>

@ericzieg.bsky.social and I were born on the same day. Not just like, we share the same birthday, but the exact same day in history! Whether delivered by mothers or by mothership, we’ll both be delivering original songs at the Bryant-Lake Bowl on Sunday Rocktober 19th at 7 pm. <more>

Vocal recording for the new 10 Items or Fewer album continues at @coolcataudio.bsky.social! Harmony singer Rhiannon Fiskradatz took these shots in the booth the other day.

Thanks again to everyone who came out to see 10 Items or Fewer and The What Have Yous at the 331 Club last week! Here are a few images from the evening. Show was a blast, and it was great to meet the What Have Yous after admiring them from afar. 10 Items photo: Aaron Fiskradatz <more>

Thanks to everyone who came out to the 331 last night– that was a blast! I’ll be sharing some images from that occasion before too long. First, though, I want to announce that our next show– in the Action Squad Beta trio deployment of myself, Rhiannon Fiskradatz and Dan Gaarder... <more>

Please join us on Wednesday September 10th at 9:30 PM for the 331 Club debut of 10 Items or Fewer! We’re opening for the What-have Yous, all the way from Eau Claire, WI! No cover! <more>

At the 331 Club on September 10th, you’ll hear quite a few new songs from the forthcoming 10 Items or Fewer album. But you’ll also hear the occasional cover, possibly including this version of Prince’s “Mountains”... <more>

@minnesotamusicresistance’s Organization of the Month for September is @abortionfront, a group that describes itself as “a coven of hilarious badass feminists who use humor and pop culture to expose the haters fighting against reproductive rights” <more>

Ideally, a song should pass the campfire test-- i.e. you can play it on a single instrument and sing it while sitting around a campfire, and it’ll work just fine. Presumably, one should also follow the campsite rule while doing so... <more>

At the 331 Club on Wednesday September 10th at 9:30 PM, you’ll get to hear many new songs from the upcoming album by 10 Items or Fewer. But you’ll also get a dose of some songs off our debut platter “The Fossil Record”-- like “Space Station Mir”... <more>

Here’s the poster from the What-have-yous, which makes it official… this is happening. 331 Club in Northeast Minneapolis, Wednesday September 10th. 9:30 PM, no cover– 10 Items or Fewer, opening for The What-have-yous! <more>

would like to wish you and your family the happiest of Bandcamp Fridays. Whether you’re out on the town celebrating or just having a quiet day at home, we hope you can keep the spirit of Bandcamp Friday in your heart all year round! <more>

While it may not be responsible to claim a direct one on one correlation, let’s just say that people who attend 10 Items or Fewer shows like the one coming up on September 10th at the 331 Club at 9:30 PM, opening for The What Have-yous, often find themselves quite glad they did.

Working on a new client project. My mission: engineer and produce a sea chanty track to spec. It’s been a long time, but this is in fact my return to the sea chanty genre as opposed to, shall we say, my maiden voyage. <more>

Save the date! 10 Items or Fewer will make its 331 Club debut on Wednesday September 10th, opening for The What Have Yous from Eau Claire, WI! We’d love a good showing at a new venue, so attendance is mandatory! <more>

Follow Minnesota Music Resistance on FB, & on IG at @minnesotamusicresistance! A well managed group doing good things. If you're a MN based maker or fan of local music who wants to support progressive causes, fight the tide of fascism, & work for a better future, follow the links & get involved!

Thanks again to everyone who came out to see us at Barely Brothers Records! Next up, 10 Items or Fewer will appear at the 331 Club on September 10th!

Some candid, behind the scenes selfies of the hardworking band 10 Items or Fewer setting up for our show at Barely Brothers Records yesterday. This is the buildup to the epic reveal of actual show photos... Try to contain your excitement!

A rehearsal clip by Rhiannon, during which she’s singing harmony as well as filming. I’ve never seen anybody pull that off before. Maybe I just haven’t been paying attention though.

Thanks to Leslie & Balls Cabaret for hosting the Action Squad Beta acoustic trio configuration of 10 Items or Fewer recently, and to @pablojones.bsky.social for paparazzing us! Come see the full band this coming Saturday June 28th at Barely Brothers Records in St Paul. Free show! We play @ 1:30 PM.

Rhiannon Fiskradatz in the booth at my studio Cool Cat Audio, laying down some harmony vocals for a new 10 Items or Fewer song. I decided to make it easy for her by finishing the lyrics! Photo by Rhiannon’s camera.

We’re not performing at this, but if you're in the Twin Cities, you should go anyway! Sunday June 21st, at the Hook & Ladder! It’s a benefit for the ACLU! More info: minnesotamusicresistance.com/fight-for-yo...

Looking forward to Saturday June 28th at Barely Brothers Records in St Paul… a post-brunch dessert tray of delectable songrwriting with 10 Items or Fewer, The Gated Community and @joefaheymusic.bsky.social‬. Free! <Showtimes in replies>

Great overdub session with the maestro Jon Duncan on keys, Steve Price engineering. Here we’re getting ready to track the 10 Items song “On Another Strand of the String” for the new album. Jon’s playing a Hammond organ through a Leslie speaker. It’s a treat to capture such sweetness! <more>

Mark your calendar. Saturday June 28th, 10 Items or Fewer returns to St Paul’s @barelybrothersrecords with The Gated Community and @joefaheymusic.bsky.social! It’s a tsunami of salubrious songwriting sagacity, even if I don’t know how to pronounce “sagacity” without looking it up... <more>

Happy #MayTheFourth, BlueSky. Here's an appropriate anthem originally written by @ericzieg.bsky.social. Look up his original version too! #maythe4th #starwars

It was a pleasure once again to appear at Mary Jo Pehl’s Garage for the Performing Arts, an event that fellow guest Bill Corbett (also pictured here) called “one of the top five performing arts garages in all of New Brighton, MN”.

Guitar overdub session at Cool Cat Audio for the new 10 Items or Fewer album with “The AM Rocker” himself, Mr. Dan Gaarder! Every take is a journey to places only Dan will go, leaving me with the excellent problem of which performance to pick down the line.

🧵 Some might see it as a drawback if their band photo resembled a BTS promo shot from John Carpenter’s “The Thing”. Me? I wonder why we didn’t think of it before.

Six encores! 😮😮😮

Gratitude abounds: to those who supported the Indiegogo to help make this happen, and to Dan, Jon, Keely, and Matt for showing up to lay down the basics of a new album by my band 10 Items or Fewer (plus some compilation tracks perhaps), with the sure hand of Steve Price at the helm.

We were supposed to rehearse in the aftermath of Snowpocalypse last week… NOPE! Our rescheduled final practice before heading into the studio meant we missed Rhiannon, but I’m excited for a couple sessions with these fine fellas soon! <more>

John Munson once accidentally took home one of my cables after a gig, and came over to my house to return it. That's the kind of guy he is. Please help out!

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the Phillips Brothers Song Swap the other night! Thanks to Rhiannon for joining me to deliver the Bob Evans Half Time Show as the vocal duo 10 Items or Fewer Rapid Response Team, and for taking most of these photos!