SCANDINAVIA – Odin & Freja’s Place has been named Wisconsin’s sole recipient of the 2026 Music in Action grant by the Live Music Society.
The four-year-old independent music venue is one of 29 small performance spaces nationwide selected for the annual award, which distributes a collective $844,000 this year to help venues expand audiences, engage with communities and generate revenue.
“This is an exciting time for Live Music Society,” said Gavin Berger, Board President of the Live Music Society. “Whether it’s helping a venue try something new or helping an artist get on the road, we’re focused on creating more opportunities for artists, audiences, and communities to connect.”
Odin & Freja’s Place hosts an average of 75 concerts a year, leaning predominantly toward jazz and blues, along with some folk and rock.
Co-owners Carol Kraco and Gordon Kirchoff said they were elated to receive the funding, which will alleviate some of the financial pressure of running a venue that subsists solely on bar sales and live entertainment.
“When you’re only selling drinks ... for us to have some extra money to pay musicians really makes a big difference, because if you see a venue that’s only subsisting on their bar and music, you can rest assured they’re kind of living on the margin,” Kirchoff said.
The venue currently relies on suggested donations from patrons rather than ticket sales, though the owners said ticketed events may be implemented in the future depending on the performing group.
Odin & Freja’s is designed as a “listening room,” offering a laidback, intimate lounge environment where the music is the central focus rather than background noise.
“Generally people sit and listen to the music and they pay attention and they applaud at the end of songs,” Kirchoff said. “It’s not your typical bar with a band situation. It’s more like a concert.”
The venue is named after Norse gods as a nod to both the TV show “Norsemen” and the village of Scandinavia.
“I think a lot of people come out and discover they’re in the middle of a class reunion,” Kirchoff said. “They see people here they haven’t seen in years and it’s really interesting.”
The grant will directly fund Odin & Freja’s new programming effort called “Small Town Big Music.” The goal is to bring nationally recognized artists to the rural community, increasing the venue’s visibility and building long-term momentum.
By offering a welcoming spot for live music, Kraco said they hope to catch touring musicians as they travel between larger cities and “offer them a chance to play in a little venue off the beaten path and fill some of their off days.”
“It really allows us to elevate our game here a little bit and get some better-known groups,” Kirchoff added.
With the grant funding, Odin & Freja’s plans to book acts with greater name recognition from the Fox Valley area, including upcoming performances by jazz and blues vocalist Erin Krebs and Kate Voss of Kate Voss & The Hot Sauce, who will be performing in December with her husband, guitarist Jason Goessl, under the name Sundae + Mr. Goessl. Upcoming concert details are on the Odin & Freja’s Place Facebook page.
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