Costello spent two years in Afghanistan, living among recently returned refugees, teaching agricultural techniques and directly participating in food distributions.

Costello lived there for two years, working in the Central Afghan mountains with returned refugees, teaching them creative agricultural techniques and becoming fluent in their native language, Dari (Persian).

Their diverse mix of instruments includes accordion, mandolin, bells, vibraphone, horns, assorted percussion, electronic organ and Wurlitzer, to name a few.

His songs are often about self-sacrificing figures such as Hugh Thompson[1] and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and he pulls inspiration from the Southern Gothic fiction of Flannery O'Conner and Carson McCullers.

After some trial and error, the band solidified their roster to include keyboardist Tim Cocking, lead guitarist Greg Willson, backup vocalist Melissa Reyes, and bassist Jeremy Siegel.

The OaKs are currently working on long-distance collaboration with one another as lead singer Ryan Costello is attending graduate school at Oregon State University.

Ryan Costello released his first solo album, "After The Fire", on October 20, 2009, guest-featuring The OaKs' Matthew Antolick on drums and Greg Willson on horns.