Silk 'N' Oak

Silk ’N’ Oak is a musical project founded by brothers Ricky and Troy Saunders, born in the Scenic Rim, a small valley south-east of Brisbane, Australia. What started on a childhood farm and in local pubs has grown into a decade-long journey across Australia, shaped by live performance, collaboration, and a constant drive to evolve.

At its core, Silk ’N’ Oak is about exploration. While anchored by the songwriting partnership of two brothers, the project has always been fluid — expanding and contracting with different musicians, textures and arrangements depending on the sound being pursued. From stripped-back folk beginnings to groove-heavy funk, disco, blues and alternative pop, Silk ’N’ Oak continues to shift form while staying grounded in connection and storytelling.

“Everything we have created was born out of necessity,” says band leader and singer Ricky Saunders. “Whether trying to make people dance in a packed bar, or trying to make our limitations work for us, it’s a genuine musical development.”

Since forming in 2013, Silk ’N’ Oak have completed five East Coast tours from Airlie Beach to Hobart, released multiple singles and EPs, hosted two boutique music festivals in their hometown of Boonah (raising over $5,000 for charity), and appeared at major Australian events including Airlie Beach Festival of Music, Gympie Music Muster, Decades Festival, Caxton Street Festival, O’Heart Festival and Town & Country Festival. In 2025, they were also set to perform at The Long Sunset Music Festival before its cancellation due to weather. Most recently, they headlined Oktoberfest in the Gardens for over 10,000 people (2025) and are finalists in the Bluesfest Busking Competition (2026).

In 2025, Silk ’N’ Oak recorded The Show live at Sound Out Studios in Brisbane — an unreleased disco-funk-blues track that has become a crowd favourite and a clear marker of their new direction. In 2026, they will release a video-only version of I Wanna Feel Ya, a retro-leaning pop track that nods to 80s pop and soul influences.

Ricky’s early lyrical style draws heavily from artists like Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen — stories of people burning with a desire for a better life, searching for meaning, belonging and deeper connection. In contrast, Silk ’N’ Oak’s most recent groove-based music leans into funk, disco and blues, paying tribute to the great soul and dancefloor acts that shaped them, from Earth, Wind & Fire, James Brown, Grover Washington, Jr. and Bill Withers, to the wider lineage of funk and disco.

Two brothers from a small town, still building something bigger than themselves.

Current live lineup includes CJ Mitchell (keys/vocals), Tyger Middleton (saxophone) and Lachlan Holdorf (drums).