Kokomo Bros were a progressive bluegrass band based in central Indiana from 1975 to 1979.
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The Kokomo Bros were founded in the fall of 1975 when Tim Moody, who played fiddle and mandolin and Dan Vanada, who played guitar, were roommates and undergraduate students at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. John Staley, another roommate, learned to play the bass. The trio played a couple coffeehouse venues before they met Mark Eddy, a banjo player, who rounded out the "progressive" bluegrass sound.
This Kokomo Bros lineup played around West Lafayette, predominately at the Ground Round in Lafayette, Indiana, and at clubs throughout Indiana until July 1976, when Mark Eddy left the area to pursue his Ph.D. out of state. Tom Adler, a banjo player and Ph.D. student at Indiana University then joined the Bros, having met Moody and Vanada that summer at Bean Blossom Festival. In mid 1977, John Staley left the band and was subsequently replaced by West Lafayette bass player Robert (Bob) Palomo.
In summer of 1979, Adler was finishing his Ph.D and was hired to teach at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. With Vanada becoming involved in his own software company, and Moody contemplating graduate school, the Kokomo Bros disbanded. They gave two "farewell performances" in August 1979, first at The Ground Round in Lafayette, Indiana and then at The Hopp in Bloomington, Indiana.
Although Kokomo, Indiana does exist, none of the band members were from it, nor did the band ever play there.
In certain parts of Indiana, piling several people into the front seat of a car and nobody in the rear seat was once referred to as "riding Kokomo style." The newly formed and nameless band rode Kokomo style to their early jobs because the back seat was filled with instruments and equipment.
"Kokomo Bros" (never with a period) was not short for "Kokomo Brothers." The word "bros" was pronounced brōz (rhymes with "froze").
On April 1, 2005 the Kokomo Bros Virtual Reunion was launched. The site includes photographs, memorabilia, excerpted recordings from the final concert at The Hopp, and with members spread from Arvada, Colorado to St. Petersburg, Russia holds out the promise of a "Virtual Reunion Recording Project."