The Sout Project is a broad collective of creative people, singers, instrumentalists, writers, and prophets, curated and facilitated by composer/producer Nic Paton.
Sout, (rhyming with “note” from the Afrikaans) means salt and is also a shorting of Sout(h). The music described as "World Emergent" is a fresh expression of contemporary sacred song and has been conceived and recorded in Cape Town, South Africa.
It's been a long journey for Nic, starting with the Afro Gospel "Friends First" and also the "Jazzanians" in the heat of the apartheid 1980's. In this century, he finally released an album of songs entitled "The Middle of it All" in 2004.
The material for The Sout Project has been created and honed over the last 3 years, and in its finished form features the American writer and visionary Brian McLaren, explosive African choir Siyaya, the haunting Xhosa traditional musician Madosini, and the poignant voice of Annemie Bosch, a true tribal elder. Furthermore it includes a superb String Quartet, Celtic styles, tabla, sitar, and many more instruments from around the world, combined in a generous wash of organic elctronica.
While deeply engaged in diverse musical traditions, and oozing creative musicality, the Projects debut "Story" is more than just an album: it represents a vision, woven into song. Eclectic and ecumenical, the music emerges from a spiritual journey which is being shared by many others across the world.
The Sout Projects "Worlds Emergent" sound will appeal to spiritual seekers and seasoned worshippers alike, as it frames the concerns of today’s world as well as some ancient responses to perennial questions, in an inclusive, open ended invitation to take part in the Divine drama, this Story in which we find ourselves.
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