Over the course of 41 years as Charmer and its successor Smithfield Fair, the Brothers Smith (Dudley-Brian, Bob and Joel) have not always had the luxury of performing together at the same time.

Six tracks find all the Smiths (plus Dudley-Brian’s wife Jan) making new music together, which is among the most enjoyable stuff this group has ever waxed. A few tunes, like the shuffling “Housepaintin’ Blues” and “Waiting on the River” were written specifically for this project, while the opening ooh-wah of “Jerry Lee Lewis All Night,” a longtime live staple, is only now making its debut on recorded medium.

Stephen Foster’s “Hard Time Come Again No More,” offers breathtaking, resounding harmonies, as if it were a centuries-old Scottish ballad, not something by a 19th-century American songwriter. With these performances, the thought of a full–length brother (plus one) album with new material sounds appealing.

The other 14 tracks here hail from the Charmer era but were never released on CD after its vinyl-and-cassette heyday. Though it all feels like Charmer/Smithfield Fair-style folk, some tracks literally surprise, such as Jan’s “Cuckoo,” with its show tune flair, and “Fishlips,” featuring Dudley-Brian’s killer slide-guitar groove. Though this serves as a combination EP and legacy anthology, the packaging never alludes to it as such, other than the year of the recording.

The mastering blends the old and the new so well that it’s relatively seamless, especially considering that these tracks span 33 years.