COOKEVILLE -- He learned to play ukelele from his neighbor, Tiny Tim, and is descended from Vaudeville actors.

Now "Conductor Jack" Norton gets children far and wide hopping with his original songs inspired by the jazz, blues and hillbilly greats of old that he performs with his backup band, the Zinghoppers.

"My grandpa was a Vaudevillian -- my great-grandpa was, too -- and I grew up on his old phonograph record collection," said Norton. "I didn't have a CD player until I put out my first CD in 1997."

Norton's musical influences include crooners like Al Jolson and Rudy Vallee, early country acts like Jimmie Rodgers and Bob Wills, and jazz and blues artists like "Jelly Roll" Morton and "Blind Lemon" Jefferson. Though the group is eclectic, they all have one thing in common.

"I only listen to music made before 1945," said Norton. "Other than The Wiggles and Raffi, I don't think there's anyone alive today making music that I'm listening to, though I guess Leon Redbone is an exception."

A music history buff, he finds it fascinating that the great songs from early last century are the children's standards of today.

"'I've Been Working on the Railroad' is an old minstrel/Vaudeville song, and 'Dinah Blow Your Horn' is a jazz standard," said Norton. "There are four old songs in that song, and throughout the last 100 years they've become one kids' song now. 'Zipadee Doo Dah' won the Academy Award in 1938, and now it's a kids' song, too."

Norton started playing lead guitar and mandolin at age 10 in his parents' bluegrass band in rural southern Minnesota. Later, Tiny Tim taught him ukelele.

"I was 10 or 12 and was obsessed with Tiny Tim, and so was the lady in the house across the street," said Norton.

When Tiny Tim took up residence in a hotel room in Des Moines, Iowa, Norton and his neighbor began paying him visits. When Tiny Tim and the neighbor, "Miss Sue," fell in love and got married, Norton served as the best man.

"He moved in literally across the street from us in Minneapolis," said Norton. "I bought an old ukelele, and he showed me how to tune it and gave me some of the ukelele books he learned on."

Years later, when Tiny Tim died, his widow gave Norton one of his ukeleles, the one that Norton still plays today.

Norton went on to form his own band, and that first CD he released in 1997, "Wizard Oil" -- which includes legendary bass sax and tuba player Vince Giordano (from Leon Redbone's band) and John Gill on trombone and tenor banjo (formerly with Tom Waits and Woody Allen) -- was chosen as "Album of the Year" by the readers of Tradition Magazine.

Norton performed with folk singer Greg Brown and musicians Peter Ostroushko, Bo Ramsey and Tony Glover. In 1999, he toured with folk legend Dave Van Ronk for his final American tour, and in 2000 he opened in New York City for a then-unknown Norah Jones. He was one of the youngest artists to perform at Nashville's Bluebird Cafe and spent the summer of 2001 opening for Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and the Squirrel Nut Zippers on their tours.

Despite his success in grown-up music, Norton decided to let it go in favor of something he and his wife, Kitty, are much more passionate about -- children's music.

"A lot of people start out with kids' music and want to get out of it, but we've done other projects and want to get out of those to get into just kids music," said Kitty, Jack's high school sweetheart and band mate.

Added Jack, "You can write a song about washing your hands or doing the twist ... either one is exciting to kids. And kids aren't interested in a really amazing fiddle break or a sweet guitar solo. They just want to move and have that experience and have fun, and that was really refreshing after spending so many years trying to play for adults."

Jack and Kitty, both 28, have just completed their degrees in early childhood education. Three years ago they dreamed up the Zinghoppers and worked with professors from the University of Minnesota and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester to develop the characters -- Penelope the Possum, Olo the Donkey and Coconut the Kangaroo.

"I think one of the reasons we've had success with the Zinghoppers is the toddler mindset of these animal characters 'coming to life,'" said Jack. "A parent once told me that their child thought that the kangaroo, donkey and possum were stuffed animals that came to life. We think that's really neat and a fun insight into the young mind."

They spent about a year in development and performed their first gig with the Zinghoppers was at the end of 2006. Last year the Zinghoppers did more than 300 performances across the U.S., including a two-week stint in Australia, and this year even more shows are planned.

"We drove about 74,000 miles last year," said Jack. "We do a lot of fairs and festivals. We did the Minnesota State Fair and the South Dakota State Fair, several county fairs and a lot of churches. We're trying to develop a following for the Zinghoppers."

Their efforts seem to be paying off, as CD sales and iTunes downloads of their songs are climbing.

"I would always do albums as a labor of love, and we're saying something artistically to the kids, but for the first time we're starting not to lose money," said Jack. "We're blessed to be paying the bills because it's work, but it's fun."

The Nortons come up with new songs for their shows during their many long drives between gigs.

"I'll be driving and she'll get out the guitar and say, 'Remember that old song by Buddy Holly? Let's play the chords from that and come up with a new melody.' We'll kill a whole afternoon's worth of driving that way," said Jack.

Their inspiration for songs often comes, of course, from children.

"I was playing at a campfire at this overnight thing at the Nashville Zoo, and there was this little boy who was about 3 and was totally freaking out about his shadow because it was following him and doing what he would do, and we got in the car and said we have to write a song about that," said Jack.

Once they write the songs, they record rough demos of them on their computer then send them out to a group of about six people who give them feedback.

"It's neat because they're not musicians, so they're looking at it in a curriculum-based way," said Jack.

The Nortons have released two CDs and have four more in the works for their new-found fans.

"The thing is, since our core Zinghopper fans are ages 1 to 5, they are replaced every two or three years, so if they want a CD while they can really enjoy it, we kind of have to hurry the process up," said Jack.

And one day, when they've done more research and developed a strong fan base and mailing list, Jack and Kitty might just take the Zinghoppers to TV. But they don't want to do it until they can do it right.

"We're doing this not only as a career but as a life ministry," said Kitty. "Child welfare and providing a safe content for kids is extraordinarily important to us, and we don't want that to be corrupted for any reason."

Meanwhile the Nortons, who just moved to the area from Minneapolis, will share their act with local children the third Friday of each month (except for June) at the the Cookeville Children's Museum. Their next scheduled date is 9:45 a.m. Friday, May 16.

Though the museum is not big enough for the Zinghoppers' full stage show, Conductor Jack, Penelope the Possum (helped by Kitty) and assorted hand puppets keep the children happy, which, for this talented twosome, is what life's all about.

For more information about Conductor Jack and the Zinghoppers, visit www.jacknorton.net.