The Greytown and Wellington-based singer-songwriter-musician shares the bill with friend and solo folk-pop artist Lindon Puffin for the second show in the inaugural Summer Playground series at the Winehouse.
"Intimate venues give you a chance to talk about the songs a little bit and have a lot more light and shade than you would with a band," Saunders said on Wednesday.
"I love playing with the Warratahs. But it's good sometimes to bring those songs to another place," he said.
The Warratahs began playing a residency in Wellington's Cricketers Arms in 1986 with a repertoire of country based songs by Jimmie Rogers and Hank Williams, among others.
They soon earned a reputation as a formidable live act and their debut album Only Game In Town, produced singles Maureen, Hands of My Heart and Driving Wheel.
Six albums and a quarter of a century later, Saunders, Nik Brown, Sid Limbert and Maurice Newport are still in business and they have just finished a new extended-play collection of five songs. These are for release with their 18-track greatest hits album in late March.
"I've tried to get as much colour in there as possible, with accordion and steel and harmonica and I sing a duet with Carolyn Hester," Saunders said.
"On the Gibbston night I'll be playing some of the Warratahs' songs and a lot of solo album stuff from Red Morning and Magnetic South and a couple of covers you've known since you were a kid."
Tickets are $45 per Summer Playground gig from Quest in Queenstown and Wanaka, the Arrowtown Information Centre or via the Eventfinder website.
The Winehouse doors open at 3pm and shows start at 5.30pm.
