Frank Viele “Made My Heart Grow Stronger” (photo by Donato Biceglia)
Americana Highways is hosting this premiere of Frank Viele’s “Made My Heart Grow Stronger,” written for a shelter dog and as part of an awareness festival. “Made My Heart Grow Stronger” was recorded at Chez Shad in Great Barrington, MA; and mixed and mastered by Jimmy Nutt at The Nutthouse in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
“Made My Heart Grow Stronger” is Frank Viele on vocals and instruments.
Frank explained the context and the inspiration for the song” “Every year my indie record label, Bigger Beast Records, and our community outreach arm, All Boats Rise Entertainment, partner with a local animal rescue for a project that has become incredibly meaningful to us.
“Twelve songwriters — including myself — visit a shelter, each “musically adopting” one of the animals. We write a song from that animal’s perspective and use those songs to help tell their stories and find them forever homes. The project culminates in our annual Paws & Listen Music Festival, where the artists perform and we raise money for the rescue. Last year we raised just under $40,000 for Providence Animal Rescue League.
“This year we partnered with Vintage Pet Rescue in Foster, Rhode Island, and I was paired with a pup named Tofu. She had been found wandering the streets of Providence, Rhode Island, but somehow — incredibly — she had a microchip tracing back to Honolulu, Hawaii. No one quite knows how she made that journey.
“What struck me most was how unbelievably sweet and affectionate she was. Many animals who’ve had to fend for themselves carry the scars of that experience, but Tofu seemed to carry something else entirely — almost a herculean level of kindness and empathy. It felt like her long and complicated journey had given her perspective and strength.
“As someone who’s played more than 1,000 concerts across 41 states over the past decade — often living out of hotel rooms or catching power naps in my tour van — I found myself relating to that idea of endurance and emotional resilience.
“That connection became the heart of the song. The opening line asks a question that hangs over the entire story: “Are we ever really going the wrong way, or do we always end up where we’re supposed to be?”
“In many ways, Tofu’s journey embodies that question. Somehow, after traveling a mysterious and unimaginable path, she ended up exactly where she needed to be — surrounded by people trying to help her find a home. Writing “Made My Heart Grow Stronger” felt like exploring that idea through both of our journeys: that sometimes the miles, the detours, and even the hardships are the very things that shape the strength and empathy we carry forward.
“It’s amazing how an animal’s story can unlock something deep within my own human experience — but with Tofu, the song came incredibly naturally, almost as if her story was already waiting to be sung.”
A sweet tribute to a dog in crisis, this song also brings awareness to the current state of shelter overpopulation and all the loving dogs who need homes desperately.
Find more information here: https://frankviele.com/
Enjoy some of our previous coverage here: Interview: Frank Viele on “The Silo,Touring and Songwriting Evolution