Absolutely. I can't think of any better use of violins in popular music than the Philadelphia Sound and Paul Buckmaster. Or come to think of it, the uncredited string arrangements on Roy Orbison's records.
I know a violin player in Europe who plays with an alt-country group there, a kind of bluegrassy sound, so we'd call her a "fiddle player". But having been classically trained, unlike most of our country and bluegrass fiddle players here, she does amazing things, that unfortunately are not fully appreciated there. She'd be a session player hit if she moved to Nashville.
"New Grass"?