By a series of circumstances, none of which he is prepared to divulge, “until the book and movie rights are completely sewn-up,” as he so eloquently puts it himself, Scott Doonican arrived somehow in Barnsley Rock City, and within the blinking of an eye had established himself as an intellectual, all-round athlete, celebrated man of opinion, and possibly the greatest entertainer of a generation, if not in the history of the entire planet. He is incredibly modest about it all too. This quiet, self-effacing man, this deep, windswept and interesting individual, who numbers amongst his hobbies, a tank-top collection of breath-taking magnitude, has not changed a bit since the early days of the band. In a typical self-mocking way, he attributes his success to a natural talent and a lifetime of exceptionally hard work and dedication. As The Bar-Steward Sons of Val Doonican’s outspoken frontman, Scott is a debonair and theatrical performer with a half thought-out plan and a mouth with a mind of its own. Can you trust him? To be silly, yes. To be a gob-shite, yes. To behave, hell no. Like a bus conductor standing in front of an orchestra with a spoon in one hand and a pint in the other, he is quite clearly here for a good time, not a long time. He claims to have formed the band in 2006, “to fuse the theatrical stage antics of Freddie Mercury with the comedy-folk of Mike Harding, in order to form the world’s greatest band in knitwear”. He has led the band through four notable incarnations to date, and despite being the one constant throughout the band’s history, he has also been a wreaking ball of energy, perpetually trying to ensure that he and his bandmates, “get where water doesn’t”. The hard work continues to pay-off, and Scott constantly reminds people, that he has no intention of retiring for many, many years. He has the best job on the planet and he loves his work. “The band is everything to me. We built this up from playing little countryside pubs like we were playing Wembley Stadium, to playing festivals in front of thousands like we were playing Wembley Stadium. People say you are only as good as your last show, so I’m buggered if I am going to do a bad job… if they’re there to see us, we’ll give ’em a show they’ll remember.”  

There is an element on uncertainty about all of the above, but the rest, as we say, is history.