On his Web site, Jack Norton says his goal is "to, literally, corrupt an audience with pleasure."

It's safe to say that the people who heard Norton and the Mullet River Boys present their show at Pioneer Hall Sunday evening can consider themselves "pleasurably corrupted."

Norton and the "boys" presented a program of music laced with humor as the fifth and final presentation in the 2007-'08 Studio Subscription Series Sunday night. The repertoire from the Twin Cities-based group was an eclectic blend of vaudeville, ragtime, folk, western swing and gospel tunes delivered with smiles, stories and jokes. The casual, intimate setting provided ample opportunity for interaction with the audience - seated around tables - only added to the pleasure factor of the "corruption."

Norton is the front man - the lead vocalist who plays guitar, banjo, ukulele, harmonica and kazoo - backed up by "Cowboy Cody" on guitar and Smiling Dan (yes, he really is Jack's brother) on upright bass and mandolin.

The trio opened with "Dear Hearts and Gentle People," a tune Norton joked that "Perry Como had stolen from me in 1959." The music continued - along with the jokes - "we're a three-piece band; we know only three pieces."

Of course they knew many more, even taking requests from the audience. The program ranged from silly songs like "I'm My Own Grandpa" to traditional gospel like "I'll Fly Away" to the classic "Bouquet of Roses," a tribute to Eddy Arnold (who died last week.)

But there's probably no better example of the blend of musical skills and showmanship than the group's rendition of "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone," that featured Norton on the "trumpet"; if you closed your eyes you would never had known it was only Norton and his lips (without a real trumpet.)

"You ought to hear my clarinet," Norton quipped.

The number brought the house down and there was no question about the "pleasure corruption" of the evening.

Musical performances are Norton's full-time job, he said, something he's been doing for 10 years; he and his wife, Kitty, started the band in the winter of 1997 while students at the Arts High School in Minneapolis.

"I grew up on 1920's Dixieland jazz, vaudeville and ragtime so that's always been my main influence," Norton notes on his Web site. "While in Bible College the direction of my group became more bluegrass orientated. The band's sound evolved over time. The only constant in our band was that it was fun - we had a good time making music."

The group played 791 shows from 2004 to 2007, and Norton says "I started noticing that young children really enjoyed the peppy, upbeat and goofy songs the Mullets and I were playing."

"Seeing the reaction of children at our shows in city parks, fairs and festivals really made me happy and made me feel like I was doing something more than just playing in another bluegrass-influenced band.

"I had been wanting to make the jump to 'children's musician' for a long time," he says."

The Nortons worked with a team of educators and early childhood specialists at the Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota and developed a brand-new show for kids featuring characters called The Zinghoppers. Jack became "Conductor Jack," a friendly singing train engineer that drives the Zinghoppers to their shows in "The Happy Train."

"The reaction surpassed my wildest expectations." he writes. "It's been an incredible journey. In just the past two years we have surpassed the Mullets in the amount of shows we are playing. We've toured in Mexico. We've toured in Australia. We've toured America in ways I never imagined: last year we played shows for children and families in 37 states."

"A dad in Arizona commented after a show that I reminded him of, 'Mr. Rogers with a ukulele.' I think that was the nicest thing anyone has ever said about my music and my art.

I've always loved making music," he says, "but I never imagined how rewarding it could be. I heard an interview with the late Fred Rogers recently and he said that children are only looking for honest adults to be in their lives. He said his goal was to just be "one more honest adult" in the life of a child.

"Powerful words for a ukulele-strumming, bad-joke telling Minnesota farm boy like myself to absorb."