I, too, find the application of them distracting in a Bluegrass context for the most part, especially at the jamming stage of things, but that doesn't keep me from being a fan of, say, jug bands or The Hoosier Hot Shots. Roy Acuff used to use such things on a segment of his Royal Crown Cola radio shows. Some of the above insturments objected to have been blended in on the "Will The Circle Be Unbroken", Chieftans "Old Plank Road" and "Transatlantic Sessions" projects, and I'll let the individual be the judge. Sometimes it can work, but sometimes it doesn't.