NA KANE O MAKUAOLE BAND

In September of 2009, The band "Na Kane O makuaole" expanded by adding three Nephews. Jacob Cox, who plays acoustic guitar and keyboards, can also double for the group as a vocalist when needed. "Jake has an excellent ear for music, both instrumentally and vocally." He provides our group with a tremendous amount of flexibilty from many different standpoints. Jake is a very quick learner and is a skilled musician. He is currently single and has a son "Koa" who he loves and cherishes dearly. He is the Oldest of three Sons from Marlin Cox, one of the band originators and is an awesome asset to our band. We welcome Jake and his talents to our band with open arms and embrace him with the Aloha Spirit. Mahalo Jake for coming on board.
Robbie Leffler became a member of our band also and he to has some tremendous musical attributes that he to brings to our band. Robbie also plays the acoustic guitar and is a very quick learner. He loves playing and is very talented with a good ear for music, balance and fresh ideas that help to make each song we do "our own". Robbie is the oldest Son of Kimberly Hyden (our Sister) and has a Brother (Ryan) and Sister (Raegan). He receives much support from them being a part of this band as well from his GirlFriend (Katie Tapp). We are blessed to have Robbie make this committment to being a part of our band and welcome him also with the Aloha Spirit. Mahalo Robbie.

Josh King was the third newest member added to our band in September. Josh plays the acoustic guitar also giving us huge flexibilty in producing full instrumental sounds. Josh is a hard worker and fast learner and spends hours a week rehearsing at home when he gets the chance. He to loves playing and learning new songs and is dedicated towards being a valuable part of our band. Josh has a good ear for music understanding the importance of accuracy and timing as well as tones and patterns. Josh, is the youngest Son of Leah Renae Talkington, our Sister (who pasted away in 2001) and through her blessings will be a very gifted guitarist and band member. Josh is married to Sara King and they have two Children, a Daughter (Leila) and new Son (Leo) and has been blessed with this beautiful family. We welcome Josh with the Aloha Spirit and say Mahalo Josh for being a part of our Band.

Late in September, three more Nephews were added to our band. Part of this came about after having spent 2 awesome days with "Kroon", a Songwriter, Recording Artist, Producer and Performer who resides in Michigan, and now dear friend and member of our Ohana We had obtained a copy of a song written by our Tutu (Grandmother) that she never finished. Our youngest brother Carey, introduced the song to Kroon who, at that point, turned the song into an immediate project for us to finish. We spent two evenings working out lyrics and chords and indeed, finished the song. It was during this process that Kroon invited everyone to join in and sing and thats when we added two Nephews, Jordie Cox and Justin King. Both posess very gifted vocals with awesome pitch, tone quality and range. They bring a flare of modern sound to our more traditional hawaiian harmony we three brothers have developed over the years which have opened up endless potential in our vocal arrangements for future songs. Jordie is the youngest Son of Marlin Cox and lives in Franklin, Indiana. He works construction and has a younger Sister (Taylor) and many many talents. Justin is married to Amara and they have a daughter named "Zoe" and they reside in our home town of Columbus, Indiana. He is the middle Son of Leah Renae Talkington and he to has been blessed as a vocalist. A hard working father, Justin has a great future as a vocalist and we are blessed to have him as well. The Aloha Spirit reaches out to both Justin and Jordie and a big Mahalo to both for being a part of our band.

It was also during this time when we were spending hours working on Tutu's new song, that another gifted and talented musician made the committment to being apart of our band. We had three guitarist, two Uke players, a Bass player, a Keyboard Player and several vocalist, but what we didn't have to finish our ensemble was percussions. Joe King, the oldest Son of Leah Renae Talkington and Brother of Justin and Josh, became a member of our band in early October. We had approached Joe Mid September and we respected the fact that he, at that time, didn't feel he could make the committment needed. Joe came to us and said if we wanted him, he was all in and became our final newest member as a drummer/percussionist. This has added a much needed fullness to our overall sound by helping to create mood, tempo and feel to the arrangements we are working on. Joe has many years of experience as a drummer having played for different bands including his high school band. He was an instructor for band camps for many years and has a tremendous amount of wisdom and knowledge when it comes to beat, style, and percussion sounds. Joe has a son (Kai) and a Fiancee (Lauren) and they live in Columbus, Indiana as well. He has worked for Cummins for several years and is now a valued member of our band. We also embrace Joe with the spirit of aloha and to Joe we say Mahalo for joining us.

If you are interested in booking us for an event you are planning contact Jerry Cox @ kahunaboto30@yahoo.com or call 812-657-7766 or simply send us a comment on this website.

Carey is the youngest of the three brothers and probably the most talented. Carey has a wonderful wife, Susie and 5 children, Heather, Elizabeth, Kevin, Maile
and Mara. He has a grand daughter Kloe who, other than his wife, is the love of his life. Mentioning that Carey very well may be the most talented of the bunch comes after looking at all his attributes. He has a deep passion for his hawaiian heritage and for hawaiian music. Artist like Kealii Reichel, The Cazimero Brothers and The Makaha Sons have enspired him through their vocal and instrumental abilities. "They are all awesome! The way they play and sing their songs, their arrangements are so soothing yet dynamic and very tight. You can hear their sincerity for what they are singing about in every song they do". Carey spends alot of his time listening and learning new hawaiian songs and is instrumental in the groups Luau shows presentations. He is the only one of the three brothers who can dance the hula and adds that to our entertainment package. He has attended Hula classes in Indianapolis and Chicago and loves the opportunity to performing for others exhibiting control and demonstrating the passion it takes to tell each story through dancing the hula.

Carey loves playing the Ukulele and is very good doing it. Alot of hawaiian songs they learn comes from him listening to the song, playing it on the ukulele, adding the lyrics, then putting it all together so the band whole can learn it and add it to our luau's song list. He has a great ear for music, vocally and instrumentally. He hears the harmonies and is able to find his parts very easily.

Carey sings R&B, Hip Hop, Country, Duets, Contemporary, Easy Listening, 50's, 70's and alot of 90's music. I believe I can Fly, This Is How We Do It, To Close, To Make You Feel My Love are just a few of the songs he enjoys singing and alot of these songs are performed at our concerts that are not Luau's. "I just like singing and entertaining to people.

Marlin is in the middle of the Cox Brothers layout. He is 47 years old and currently resides in Franklin, Indiana with his children. He has 3 sons, Jacob, Christopher and Jordan Cox and a daughter Taylor. He has a grandson, Koa who he adores and spoils every chance he gets. Marlin, also from time to time, sings with the family group "Lei'gacy" and provides the Bass vocals which totally completes the groups sound. He has spent the past 10 years in Warsaw, .
Indiana which has prohibitted him from participating in alot of the groups events, but has recently moved back to stay

Marlin has been singing in school choirs since junior high and has been involved with school musicals, concerts and drama shows. Marlin has enjoyed his talent of singing for many years and hones in his skills by singing at Karaoke venues as much as possible. Marlin also runs a karaoke business called "Coxy's Karaoke" and has been doing this for several years.
As a member of the "Cox Brothers" band, Marlin sings a wide variety of parts. Sometimes, depending on the song selection, he sings lead. If the vocal range is to high you might hear him sing bass or the low harmony part. He really has a great vocal range for someone with such a deep bass singing voice. He has a good ear for sound and a very good feel for harmony, which is one of the groups characteristic traits. His ability to blend his voice with his brothers is one of the unique parts of the groups overall sound. Marlin enjoys playing sports particularly, softball and some basketball. He likes volleyball, bowling, ping pong, corn hoe, horseshoes and Hula Hooping. He enjoys singing country, hip hop, R&B, 70's and some modern songs. He likes to sing songs by Lou Rawls, Josh Groban and Luther VanDross.

Jerry is the oldest of the three Cox Brothers. He has a wife of 8 years, Diane and has 4 children, Karina, Jason, Aliceyn and Kyla, and a step-daughter, Melinda. He has 3 grandsons and 3 granddaughters, Trey,Jayden,Cameron...Kayden, Gracie, Harley. He sang in Concert choir his senior year, sang with his church choir for many years and was a choir director off and on at church. He runs a karaoke business "Island Boy Karaoke Productions" sings with his family band "Lei'gacy" and performs with his brothers band "Na Kane O Makua'ole" (The Cox Brothers Band). He played trumpet for 5 years in school and has played the National
Anthem at local sporting events. In 1996 he traveled to Nashville, Tenn. and recorded a song called "Walk Away" which was written by twin brothers out of California. "The experience of being in a professional studio environment was awesome and awe-inspiring. I couldn't believe how easy it was for the band and the director to learn and play my song so quickly and how well it sounded.
Jerry is also responsible for alot of the bands bookings. I have met some very good people and have learned alot about various organizations and how they work or operate. Alot of these programs serve a solid and justified purpose thats gives you a sense of pride in serving them".

Jerry sings alot of the high harmonies that you hear in their songs and does sing lead as well. He has a good vocal range, although as he gets older than range appears to be lowering some. "My big thing is blending. How are we mixing our vocals to create a harmonious sound is what I constantly listen for. It needs to sound good and tight, but it needs to be mellow and smooth.
"I just want people to like what they hear because it is a good relaxing sound. When they can sit back and think about their past, or present, the good things, the fond memories of loved ones or a special moment in time, then to me our music is serving it's purpose".

In late winter of 2008 three brothers got together and decided they wanted to form a band because they enjoyed singing together so much and were told they
had a very good and unique sound. Preparations were discussed and made as to the direction this band might want to go. Much of the talk centered around their Hawaiian Heritage which is something they were very proud of. Realizing, of course, that there wasn't a huge market in Indiana for Hawaiian music, the brothers decided to give it a try anyway and thus began the group "Na Kane O Makua'ole" or "The Sons of Makuaole". How did they choose their name? It was really pretty easy. Their Mothers middle name was "Makuaole" and her Maiden name was "Poliahu". They toyed with the idea of using the "Poliahu" name as part of their bands name but found out that the name itself was being used already so the choice of using "Makuaole" became simple and was adopted.


The Brothers still enjoy singing with their family band "Lei'gacy" which has been together for many years and has performed all over the state of Indiana. "Over they years my brothers and I have really had a tight connection when it came to the three of us singing together. Our harmony is very good and putting together songs has always been an easy thing for us to pick up on. One of us starts singing a song and the other two picks their parts out and before we know it we have added another song to our list", states the oldest brother Jerry.


The Cox Brothers Band has already performed this year for the Four Seasons Retirement Center and has done two shows at Ceraland Park. They are currently booked to do shows in Monticello, Indiana in August and Indianapolis in September. Other cities that has contacted them to dp performances for various oranizations are; Kokomo, Jasper, Paoli, Brownsburg, Lafayette and Carmel. "The shows we are doing are anywhere from and hour to two hours long with music varying from Hawaiian to 50's & 60's" says Carey Cox the youngest of the three brothers.


The band performs a wide variety of songs, some which include: Mehameha/White Sandy Beach, Blue Hawaii, Hene Kou Akaka, Maui Waltz, Hanalei Moon, I believe I can Fly, Beach Boy Medley, Sand and the Sea, I Will Be Here, Mama, Turn Around Look At Me, Pretty Woman, Play That Funky Music White Boy, This Is How We Do It, To Make You Feel My Love and many many more. Song choice catagories are; Country, Hawaiian, 50's 60's, Rock, Hip Hop, R&B, Contemporary, Easy Listening, 70's, and Gospel just to name a few. "That's one of the fun things about this band" says Middle Brother Marlin Cox, "We fall in love with a song, decide to learn it then add it to our list. It's always fun learning new songs and getting the sounds right vocally".