In late 2022 a B4 First 1000 Days Storyteller Grant was awarded to Choose Life Services AKA Parakaleo Ministries Incorporated, in partnership with East Devonport Child and Family Learning Centre, and Creative Therapies Tasmania.

Through the grant funding a Working Group was established to lead the project. The Working Group included a qualified registered music therapist, music teacher/professional musician and counsellor. This group worked with parents of young children to develop a shared understanding of the importance of the first 1000 days and their own, locally developed, first 1000 days stories. Using a music therapy model, parents wrote and recorded the lyrics and music to tell their story.

The group have now, written, recorded, and documented four songs representing their stories of the first 1000 days, reinforcing the key first 1000 day messages.

The songs and accompanying video clips are extraordinary and the journey that was taken to reach this point has seen incredible growth in confidence and empowerment for the parents involved.

All Day and Every Night

All Day and Every Night is a beautiful lullaby, conceived as a simple list of physical actions which will calm your child, and yourself, in the tense moments. Highlighting unconditional love as well as our fragile vulnerabilities as imperfect parents, its performance premiere saw not a dry eye in the audience. Featuring a string quartet and haunting vocal harmonies.

Mixed Messages

Mixed Messages highlights the seemingly hypocritical messages we send our small people as they navigate the “dos” and “dont’s” of life. A muted jazz palette brings this strange brew to life, crowned with wailin’ blues harmonica reminiscent of another time.

Pressure's Rising

Pressure’s Rising is a parent’s secret weapon for when they are about to boil over. “Bring in the peace, bring in the calm,” the mantra of the chorus, will remind any angry parent of the bigger picture. A rollicking country tune, which morphs and shifts through tempos and moods, is accompanied by a striking animated video which will disarm and captivate.

Little Tassie Devils

Little Tassie Devils, the namesake of the group, is sung by the children of the East Devonport songwriters. Written about the pleasures of growing up in a court, surrounded by mates, and being kicked out of the house and told to come home by dark, it embodies the naivety and uniqueness of Tasmanian childhoods. A pop/rock banger, in the style of Teeny Tiny Stevies, your little people will be hooked!