Over several drinks in Sinnotts Bar on King Street South, they took Scott's original suggestion that they should take the tough sounding 'The Bastard Sons of' and add someone who ironically wasn't seen as a macho character.

The shortlist included Bert Weedon, Matt Monro and Perry Como, however the 'Bastard' was soon softened to 'Bar-Steward' under Amanda's suggestion that it would only result in the band getting limited bookings because of the harshness of the name.

Eventually Amanda suggested and then settled on Val Doonican and the band's uniform of knitted tank tops was born, a deliberate tribute to the Irish singer's loud jumpers as worn on his British TV show from the 1960s to the early 1990s.

[5] After their debut show, which was originally intended to be a one-off appearance, they decided to continue, and soon expanded to a three piece with the addition of Alan Doonican #1 on piano accordion, later self-releasing two albums of folky cover versions of classic rock songs (For Those About To Rock, Gently) and 1980s Number Ones (Back To The Day Job) on their independent Moon-On-A-Stick Records label, on which they continue to release albums to this day.

[4] The song Tarnlife was later added to Cpl Kipper's Barnsley Trades Club Turn, their first full album as a comedy band, released in 2010.

[7] Shortly after its release, Danny Doonican left the band, leaving Scott to complete the recording of 2011's The Dark Side Of The Tarn largely on his own.

In early 2018, the band re-recorded a collection of 21 of their most-loved songs for their ninth studio album, a ten-year retrospective of their comedy years, The Bar-Steward Sons of Val Doonican/2008–2018.

The first single was their final annual collaboration with Maartin Allcock, who had died four months before, only weeks after performing with the band at Fairport's Cropredy Convention.

Doonifest sold out over a year in advance,[15] with a line-up including Graham Oliver from Saxon, Hobo Jones & The Junkyard Dogs, The Sweetchunks Band and many other comedy and musical acts from the UK's festival circuit.

[18] Later in the same month, it was announced that the band would be supporting Levellers for their 2020 tour dates at Sheffield Leadmill, Holmfirth Picturedrome, Lancaster Town Hall and Nottingham Rock City.

The shows featured Scott performing live from home in his music room, interspersed with some previously recorded video footage of the full band, new music videos and collaborations between Scott and special guests, including Kathryn Roberts, Eliza Carthy, both Jeremy Cunningham and Simon Friend from the Levellers, 3 Daft Monkeys and Frank Turner amongst many others.

A regular extension to their 2-3 hour livestream shows, would be an 'After-Show Party' in The Pint & Puppet, where Scott would play some covers of other artists, which would be broadcast via Facebook Live.

[19] The fourth episode of Scott Doonican's BIG NEET IN on 18 April 2020 raised over £3000 for a local appeal to help to pay for material to make scrubs for Barnsley's NHS workers, due to the government's shortage of Personal Protective Equipment.

The new version of the 'Barnsley Concept Album' was accompanied by a 120 page book written by Scott Doonican, entitled The Essential Listener's Guide To Cpl.

[25] In May 2022, the band released their eleventh studio album, Rugh & Ryf, after shelving it for two years due to coronavirus lock downs as a result of the global pandemic.

On 10 February 2024, Scott and Alan Doonican unveiled the three new members of the band's Mk.IV line-up in front of a sold out capacity crowd at the Rescue Rooms in Nottingham.

This line-up played the 2024 Glastonbury Festival at the Avalon Stage, on a bill that featured Lulu (singer), Frank Turner, Skindred, Haircut 100 and Kate Nash[28] Scott Doonican, in an interview with Farmer Phil's Festival in 2016, named his musical comedy influences as Mike Harding, Jasper Carrott and Richard Digance and claimed that "I wanted to mix the folk-comedy of my personal comic-hero, Mike Harding, with the onstage audience-interaction and stadium rock-esque antics of Freddie Mercury, in order to form the world's greatest comedy folk-band in knitwear".

The band are regulars on the UK festival scene,[32] and have also supported a number of diverse acts including Levellers, Chas & Dave, Roy Wood, John Otway, Fairport Convention, Eliza Carthy, Tony Christie, The Flaming Lips and The Darkness.

"[1] Reviewing the band's support act to the Levellers at Leamington Assembly in 2015, What's On West Midlands said "the Barnsley Boys left the audience in stitches with their exquisitely crafted parodies ... there was nevertheless some surprisingly excellent musicianship.

"[40] John Atkin, reviewing 'Ave It: Bold As Brass in RnR Magazine, said "Bristles with proper belly-laugh moments... a LOL-a-minute through a variety of perfect pastiches.

[43] A review of a smaller venue show said "They simply take all the songs you cannot get out of your head – everything from The Police to Kings of Leon – and twist the lyrics beyond recognition while wearing gloriously outrageous multi-coloured tank tops.

[49] On 12 April 2019, the Staffordshire Sentinel published a headline about the band's appearance at Leek Arts Festival, describing them to be "like The Barron Knights - on speed", going on to say "Their hilarious parodies of popular songs will leave you crying tears of laughter".

"[51] During their appearance at Kate Rusby's Underneath The Stars Festival in August 2019, in a review by Louder Than War journalist Gareth Allen wrote, "The Bar-Steward Sons of Val Doonican's reputation preceded them and they didn't disappoint, resplendent in the most garish of tank tops imaginable... without doubt these guys can really play.

At Bearded Theory Festival in Derbyshire on Sunday 29 May 2022, Wayne Coyne from headline act The Flaming Lips said to Scott Doonican on seeing the band's stage wear, "Oh man!

It’s clear why The Bar-Steward Sons of Val Doonican have garnered such a dedicated following... their shows are not just about the music; they’re about the experience, the atmosphere, and the joy of shared laughter.