Sam Miltich is a jazz guitarist born and raised in the woods of northern Minnesota. He is a musician by profession and plays regularly in the Upper Midwest as a soloist and with his bands the Clearwater Hot Club and Big Dipper Jazz Band. In addition to gypsy swing and traditional jazz his musical interests include bluegrass, Brazilian choro, French musette, tamburitza, and other forms of traditional folk music.

While Sam was growing up, music was always a part of the gatherings of his large extended family. At age fourteen he began playing folk and bluegrass guitar. He'd been playing piano since age four when his favorite musicians were Duke Ellington and George Gershwin, but in guitar he found his true passion. At a screening of Woody Allen's movie "Sweet and Lowdown," Sam heard the music of the late gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt for the first time. The combination of acoustic instruments, driving rhythm, and the swing feel sounded like a melding of his favorite genres of music into one. Sam decided to dedicate himself to the study of gypsy jazz. By the time he was eighteen he was touring with the Robin Nolan Trio in the U.S. and Europe. He would later join the Hot Club of San Francisco for two years before starting his own band, the Clearwater Hot Club. In 2010, he fulfilled a dream he’d had since he was five years old and started the Big Dipper Jazz Band -- a traditional six-piece jazz band.

In addition to promoting his bands, Sam is always seeking out new musical connections. His recent musical collaborators have included mandolin virtuoso Peter Ostroushko, legendary Twin Cities saxophonist Dave Karr, and Dutch jazz violinist Tim Kliphuis.

Sam continues to live in northern Minnesota where he gardens, hunts, and roots for the Minnesota Twins.