The initial line-up consisted of Ferguson, Ben Grayson on Hammond organ, Stuart Speed on bass and Scott Lambie on drums.

The band's first live performances were at The Night Cat in Fitzroy, Victoria, where over an evening they would play three sets of instrumental material drawn from artists such as The Meters, James Brown, Grant Green, Ivan "Boogaloo Joe" Jones and Reuben Wilson.

[citation needed] In 2001 The Bamboos released their debut 7" single containing the original songs "Eel Oil" and "Blackfoot", earning them international acclaim from UK Deep Funk DJs Keb Darge, Snowboy, Mr Scruff, Patrick Forge and Russ Dewbury.

By this point, Scott Lambie and Stuart Speed had left the band to be replaced by drummer Jamie Jones and current bassist Yuri Pavlinov.

A horn section consisting of Ross Irwin (The Cat Empire) on Trumpet and Bruce Sandell on Tenor Sax & Flute expanded the line up to a six-piece.

Both Jamie Jones and Bruce Sandell left the band in 2004 to be replaced by Daniel Farrugia and Tenor Saxophonist Anton Delecca.

[citation needed] In late 2005 the band embarked on a second tour of Aus/NZ with (now label mates) The Quantic Soul Orchestra, Alice Russell.

Step it Up received positive reviews within the Funk/Soul scene and enabled the band to embark upon their first headline Australian, U.K and European tour that year.

[citation needed] The album title track "Step It Up" gained visibility with its use in high-rating U.S TV shows Grey's Anatomy and Ugly Betty.

[citation needed] Melbourne vocalist Kylie Auldist officially joined the band full-time in 2006 debuting on stage at Meredith Music Festival.

[citation needed] In 2007, The Bamboos released their second studio album Rawville, which marked a stylistic move towards more vocal-based material and featured vocalists Kylie Auldist, Tyra Hammond, Fallon Williams and Ohmega Watts.

Side-Stepper featured the singles "King of the Rodeo" and "I Can't Help Myself", which was nominated in the Blues & Roots Work of the Year category in the APRA Music Awards of 2010.

The album consisted of 12 vocal tracks, featuring Kylie Auldist and guests including Aloe Blacc, Daniel Merriweather, Tim Rogers, Megan Washington, Bobby Flynn and Ella Thompson (the latter who would join the band as a full-time member in the same year).

They recorded a cover version of the Rolling Stones' "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" for Mojo Magazine (U.K) and released the free four-track EP Live at the Metro through their Facebook page in November 2012.

Keyboardist Simon Mavin performed on the album, but would leave the band shortly after due to the burgeoning success of his group Hiatus Kaiyote.

[citation needed] In November 2013, The Bamboos released their sixth studio album, Fever in the Road on Lance Ferguson's own label Pacific Theatre.

"[citation needed][1] Between recording Fever in the Road and its release, the band embarked upon a national Australian tour with vocalist Tim Rogers called The Rock 'n Soul Medicine Show.

[citation needed] The Bamboos followed on from an Australian national tour in June with performances as house band on the ABC TV 'Saturday Night Crack Up TV Special hosted by Eddie Perfect, and the AFL Grand Final Eve Special Broadcast for Triple M.[citation needed] Celebrating the 15th Anniversary of the band, an official birthday show happened on 18 September 2015 to coincide with The Northcote Social Club's 10th anniversary.

In 2017, Lance Ferguson released his debut solo album Raw Material, while several band line-up changes occurred, with tenor saxophonist Damon Grant joining after Anton Delecca moved to New York.

[5] On 20 February 2018, The Bamboos released their first new original music in nearly three years with the single "Lit Up", which was accompanied by a video clip directed by Chris Nelius.

The band secured the opening support slot for Robbie Williams' Heavy Entertainment Show Australian Tour, performing to their largest audiences ever in arena concerts in the countries capital cities.

[citation needed] On 6 July 2018, The Bamboos released their eighth studio album Night Time People, which received a 5-star reviews from the UK's Daily Mirror and Blues & Soul magazine.

Long-time Bamboos recording engineer John Castle was enlisted to track the sessions, which ran through night and day across the week.

The group played songs from across their two decade-long career, arranged by band member trumpeter/arranger Ross Irwin and featuring the full 50-piece orchestra.

2022 saw the Bamboos finally complete the official 'Hard Up' Australian national tour, which had been postponed several times due to pandemic lockdowns and venue capacity restrictions over the previous two years.

[8] The Bamboos began 2023 with performances in the Caribbean on the ocean-going Jam Cruise festival, alongside George Porter Jr., Cymande, John Medeski and others.