My mom and I have very similar tastes in music, and so, when I was looking for ideas for her birthday coming up soon, she suggested I give her copies of some of my CDs of fiddle music. OK, that’d make a good birthday present… Except that I don’t actually have much of a music collection. So I turn to you, Dopers: What’s some good fiddle music I should get for Mom (and myself)? I’m mostly thinking Irish and bluegrass, but anything featuring fiddling would probably go over well. And whole albums would probably be simplest, though if there are any really great individual tracks, feel free to mention those, too.
Looks for discs featuring **Mark O’Connor **(champion bluegrass fiddler and guitarist - but mostly fiddler - who can also branch in to Hot Club jazz and classical work with Yo Yo Ma)…search on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Mark-OConnor/e/B000APWAWQ lots of good ones to choose from.
…and **Stephane Grappelli **- who played with Django Reinhardt in the Hot Club of France Quintet (results of Amazon search on Hot Club Grappelli - again, lots of cool stuff…)
**Alison Krauss **is a great player and her stuff with Union Station is top notch, as is the new-bluegrass band Nickel Creek. The sister in the **Dixie Chicks **is a great technical player, but their stuff isn’t bluegrass…
If you’re interested in different, take a look at Turtle Island Quartet - Wikipedia
I also like Jean-Luc Ponty - Wikipedia but don’t know how far “fiddle” goes in describing his styles.
For a master at fiddle, there’s Johnny Gimble - Wikipedia
I agree with the above but for something a little edgier than bluegrass, check out Ryana Gellert, an outstanding old time fiddler.
In bluegrass, Bobby Hicks is as good as it gets.
I think In My Hands by Natalie MacMaster would be a good choice for your mom. It’s a nice mix of some contemporary arrangements with some traditional Cape Breton sets as well.
For some Cape Breton fiddling straight-up, Variations by Beolach is amazing as well.
I’ve seen these guys around town a few times. A little blues fiddlin’.
Try Leahy.
B Minor is quite a workout for the three fiddle players in the group.
“The Devil Went Down To Georgia”.
Oddly enough, when I saw this thread, the iPod was doing Stephane Grappelli… and it segued to Jean-Luc Ponty right around the time I hit “post reply.”
Go to Ireland and find the nearest pub. 
I found Fergal Scahill in Clifden, County Galway. Here’s somebody else’s video as an example.
BTW, Nickel Creek broke up. Sara Watkins, their fiddle player, has done solo work. (Chris Thile on the mandolin is the true virtuoso.)
It’s not released until next week, but this collection of three Dave Swarbrick solo albums on two discs would provide a wealth of British Isles trad fiddling.
Didn’t know that. And yeah, I saw Chris play with Mark O’Connor and actually keep up, so I knew he was a top player…
Darol Anger and Stuart Duncan are both world-class fiddlers.
Not strictly a fiddle record, but check out Eric Merrill’s The Western Star.
Alas, that isn’t all that likely to work in Dublin or plenty of towns around the country.
Oh, wow, this thread has gotten busy since last night. It’ll probably be this evening before I get a chance to listen to any of the links.
Vassar Clements wouldn’t be a bad pick and I’ll second Natilie MacMaster.
Dude. Kevin Burke is awesome.
I also really like Bonnie Rideout., but she’s more on the Scottish end than Irish.
Then there’s Elke Baker (more Scottish fiddle.)
If you can go as far as Shetland fiddle music, I absolutely adore Aly Bain.
Now I want to pull out my fiddle again.
David Bromberg
My favorite fiddle tune is Jerusalem Ridge (well OK, technically it was written for mandolin, but it sounds great on fiddle).