I was going to come and say the exact things, Thanks Doc!
I do a bit of ATFM and Neo-Bluegrass, as I am a mandolin player…but my very favorite ones to hear, if not play, are the ones from the American Civil War era…you can hear some (some of it from the era, some new) on the soundtrack to Ken Burns’ Civil War Documentary…some of the Civil War era stuff is so mournful and sad, and some of it is so lively…lot’s of emotion in it, IMHO. Ashotan Farewell has got to be one of my favs to play solo on the Mandolin and whistle.
Also, if you haven’t seen it already, rent O’ Brother Where Art Thou. In addition to being one of the funniest movies ever it has some great folk tunes on the sound track.
AAHH! I love that movie, but the music so makes that movie for me!
Whistle works so well with American folk music that a lot of the tunes in Bill Och’s tinwhistle tutor fall into that category, especially in the first half of the book. In many cases (“Quick Scotch” AKA “The Fairy Dance”, “The Girl I Left Behind Me”, etc) he notes that they were popular on both sides of the Atlantic, but there a number of good American-origin fiddle tunes, song airs, and marches there as well.
I’ll admit to leaning more towards the IrTrad style in general, but many of the American folk pieces are just plain fun to play, even if they might not fit into a traditional session.
I play some early American folk, especially where it intersects with early American hymnody. These are more or less where my roots lie, and what my musical background is.