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Opening Weekend with Ron, Paul, and a Room Full of Requests

We’d been looking forward to getting back to Timberlake Resort & Campground ever since last year’s show. Ron Swanson has clearly poured a lot of thought into this place – cabins, campsites, and a full calendar of live music – so being asked to help kick off opening weekend again felt pretty great.

This time around, we had a bonus: our friend Paul Weddle on sax. Having a sax along changes how we think about the set; suddenly you’re eyeing every tune like, “Can we sneak a sax solo in here?”

Paul & his wife Dottie made a day of it, heading up early and poking around a few shops on the way to Mt. Carroll. Tom and Malissa followed also ahead of schedule.  Getting there early meant we could all actually breathe a little: unhurried load‑in, time to catch up with Ron, and a chance to say hi to folks as they wandered in from their cabins.

From Bob Seger to Lionel Richie (and a Lot in Between)

Once we started playing, it didn’t take long before the requests started flying. Someone asked for Bob Seger, and that basically wrote the next 10 minutes of the set for us. If you’ve got a sax player like Paul and somebody wants Seger, you have to play “Old Time Rock and Roll.”

The woman who requested it knew exactly what she was doing – she wanted a sax feature. Paul stepped up and absolutely tore into that solo. I found myself grinning mid‑song thinking, “Yep, this is why you invite a sax player.” People were up dancing, singing the chorus back at us, the whole thing.

Not long after that, we got a curveball in the other direction: Lionel Richie’s “Stuck On You.” Total vibe change, but in the best way. Couples drifted into the open space in front of the stage and turned it into a slow‑dance floor. Watching people dance to a tune we don’t play every night is one of those reminders that a live acoustic duo performance doesn’t have to stay in one lane.

We also had multiple people asking for Hall & Oates. We’d never really tried any of their stuff together live, but we figured, why not? So we took a swing at “Rich Girl.” Was it flawless? No. Did it work because the crowd sang half the song with us? Absolutely.

Taking Songs Further Than the Rehearsal Room

Some of the best moments weren’t even the brand‑new requests, but songs we actually rehearse all the time that just hit differently in this room.

“Take the Long Way Home” turned into this wild back‑and‑forth between harmonica and sax during the solo. Harmonica would throw out a line, sax would answer it, and back and forth they went. Honestly, it felt more exciting than the original recording for a minute there.

We also got a request for “Small Town” by John Cougar Mellencamp. By the end, Tom let loose on that last “whoa!” and just held it while Paul harmonized the note on sax above. It’s not the sort of thing you can plan in detail, but when it locks in like that and the room responds with big applause, you remember it.

Another request that fit the sax perfectly was “Ophelia” by The Band. That tune already has a built‑in swagger, and with Paul on top of it, it felt like it was written for this lineup.

Trying Out Southern Cross on the Fly

The most challenging request of the night was “Southern Cross” by Crosby, Stills & Nash. All three of us love that song, but we had never played it together before.

We talked for maybe 20 seconds about the key and who was taking which harmony, and then just went for it. I’ll be honest, I expected at least one train‑wreck moment, but it actually came off really well. Good enough that we’re now talking about working it up properly and adding it to the regular setlist.

Somewhere in there we also snuck in “Summertime Blues” and a few other staples that always get feet moving. It wasn’t the biggest crowd Timberlake has ever had – last time there was bingo before us and the place was absolutely packed – but the people who were there were fully in it, and that matters more than headcount.

Cabins, Chicago Roots, and a Late Drive Home

Between sets and after the show, we had a chance to hang out with Ron and a bunch of guests. Greg and Ron realized they both grew up in the Chicago suburbs, so there was some instant “where’d you go to school as a kid?” talk mixed in with the usual music nerdery that all musicians and music enthusiasts love to speak.

Ron set up a cabin for Paul and Dottie, and they came back raving about how big, clean, and comfortable it was. Paul even offered to line up cabins for all of us next time, which sounds pretty tempting after a long night.

Both Paul and Tom brought their wives – which made the night feel less like a gig and more like a little road trip with friends. After we packed up, we chatted a bit more with Ron and some of the campers, but we were definitely running on fumes by the time we hit the road. The drive is about 75–90 minutes for Tom and Greg and closer to two hours for Paul, so rolling into the driveway around 1:30 AM was part of the deal. No regrets, though. The ride home went fast because we were already replaying the best moments in our minds.

Timberlake really leans into live music in Mt. Carroll – they’ve got shows going all season, including bands like Karla and the Phat Catz. If you’re looking for great music, it’s worth checking their schedule at timberlakeresort.com.

Thinking About Your Own Campground or Backyard Show?

Nights like this are exactly why we love doing the live acoustic duo (and trio) thing – some planned songs, some wild‑card requests, a few risks, and a lot of singing along.

If you’re putting together an event and want this kind of acoustic setup – guitars, keys, harmonies, and hopefully even some saxophone – we’d be happy to talk about it. You can reach us through this page: https://www.bellandfieldmusic.com/book-acoustic-duo/.

Walking back into Copper & Oak on Valentine’s Day felt a little like coming back to a favorite classroom, except this time we brought the saxophone teacher with us. Our December duo show there was one of our favorites of 2025, so we’d been itching to hear what the room would sound like with Paul Weddle in the mix.

Starting the night with a group hug

Before we even unloaded a guitar or keyboard, there was this small moment that kind of set the tone for the night. Paul and his wife walked in, we all met near the bar, and without really planning it, everyone just went in for a big group hug. Not exactly rock-and-roll, but pretty on-brand for a Valentine’s gig.

Load-in at Copper & Oak is easy, and honestly, we don’t really think of it as work. While we were setting up, Joe and Michelle checked in on us, people filtered in for date night and meetups with friends, and we started talking through the plan: lean hard into love songs, give the sax plenty of room, and still sneak in some of the trio tunes we’ve been working on.

Love songs, sax features, and a quiet “My Funny Valentine”

We built the first part of the night around songs that made sense for Valentine’s Day without turning the whole thing into a Hallmark card. Paul absolutely owned the big sax moments like “Baker Street,” and it was fun to hear that solo bounce around the room with people nodding along at the bar.

We pulled out “Your Song” and “Time After Time,” which always seem to land well on nights like this. We also tried out a jazz arrangement of “My Funny Valentine.” We did it as an instrumental and it wasn’t bad for our first “go” with it. We had discussed that song earlier in the week, noting how the lyrics were about seeing someone clearly, not perfectly, and that felt pretty fitting for a room full of real-life couples and longtime friends.

Three-part harmonies and one missing Billy Joel tune

Between the love songs, we snuck in some of the trio arrangements we’ve been building with Paul. We’ve been putting in extra rehearsal time on three-part harmonies, and this was the first Copper & Oak crowd to hear them. “Leader of the Band,” “Draggin’ the Line,” and “Danny’s Song” all made the list, and “Danny’s Song” in particular felt good — that moment when you hit a blend and kind of look at each other like, “Okay, that actually worked.”

The plan was to finally play “Just the Way You Are.” Paul has that sax solo dialed in, and we’ve been meaning to add it to more sets. But mid-show, Greg’s voice decided it had other ideas.

When the voice taps out mid-show

I (Greg) hit a point where my voice just… left. No warning, no graceful fade, just gone. This happens maybe one out of every eight or ten shows when I’m not singing as smart as I should. I’ll be honest: it’s frustrating, especially when you’ve been looking forward to a specific song. We had “Just the Way You Are” sitting there on the setlist, ready to go, and we had to skip it.

I grabbed some Advil, drank a bunch of water, and after about half an hour I felt a little better, but vocally I pretty much bowed out for the rest of the night. The good thing about playing in a trio is you’re not alone up there. Tom adjusted the set on the fly, Paul stretched out a bit more on sax, and we leaned into tunes that didn’t need me to push too hard.

The crowd stayed with us the whole way. People still stopped on their way out to offer kind words and talk about songs they grew up with. One person mentioned how much they loved hearing “My Funny Valentine” done that way; another asked when we’d be back so they could bring friends next time. Those little conversations mean a lot, especially on a night when things didn’t go perfectly onstage.

Closing time, bean burritos, and what’s next

After we packed up and said our goodbyes to Joe, Michelle, and a few lingering regulars, we did what we usually do after a Lincoln, IL show: pointed the car toward home and found a Taco Bell. Bean burritos in hand, we replayed the night — the hug at the start, “Danny’s Song,” the harmonies that clicked, and how good it felt to be back at Copper & Oak for another live acoustic performance, this time with sax in the mix.

We’ll be teaming up with Paul again at Crescent City Tap in a few weeks, so if you’re looking for live music in Galva or nearby, that’s another chance to catch this trio setup.

And if you’ve got a bar, patio, private party, or anything else that could use some piano, guitar, harmonies, and the occasional saxophone feature, you can reach us here to talk details: https://www.bellandfieldmusic.com/book-acoustic-duo/.