[1] When he was a teenager, around 1953 or 1954, he first heard a recording of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" and immediately was attracted to bluegrass music.

The title of his Master's thesis was A catalog of American folk music on commercial recordings at the Library of Congress, 1923-1940.

[6] Spottswood has contributed to hundreds of reissue recordings issued by companies like Arhoolie, Rounder, Herwin, Yazoo, Document, Biograph, Revenant and Dust-to-Digital, and his own Melodeon and Piedmont labels.

[7] John Fahey, in his book How Bluegrass Music Destroyed My Life, credited a record canvassing trip with Spottswood, and the Bill Monroe record "Blue Yodel Number Seven" which Spottswood played him subsequently, with altering the course of his life.

[10] On October 1, 2009, the International Bluegrass Music Association presented Spottswood with their Distinguished Service Award in Nashville, Tennessee.