Rhymes of Perdition

“I thought the streets were paved with gold”

Rhymes of perdition is a project of 8 original songs Mr Paganini released on April 2024. Following the example of famous predecessors such as Woody Guthrie with Dust Bowl Ballads (1940), it is a ‘concept-album’, achieved through a single central narrative and theme. 

The album was recorded in 2024 at Mob Studios (Rome, Italy) and it’s the first work produced by the Paganini Caravan Records. 

Many musicians gave their contribution to this project, included Valentina Del Re, talented young Italian violinist passed in 2025 who was known for her work with artists such as Ennio Morricone, Asaf Avidan, and the orchestra of the TV show Propaganda Live.
The recording process was almost entirely based on an acoustic approach: the acoustic picking or strumming guitar and the gritty voice are accompanied by dobro, violins, drums, banjo, harmonica, whistling, and acoustic bass.

The album was premiered live in Rome, Italy, at ‘Altroquando’, on April 12th 2024.



Mr Paganini tells the life and the journey of a man who left his father’s land in search of fortune. He came to United States sure that the streets were paved with gold. 
There he suddenly understood that he was asked to paved them.
The protagonist tries to rediscover his roots but he realizes that the world he remembered no longer exists. Defeated, he tries unsuccessfully to conform, forgetting his dreams and abandoning the search for himself. 

Throughout the songs, the encounter with the devil recurs several times, representing the latent flame that drives the protagonist to ‘dare the impossible’, to pursue his dreams even at the expense of the rules that society imposes on us.

The author addresses issues of immigrants and the working poor in his music and public statements, focusing on the challenges of economic hardship, inequality, and the often-overlooked contributions of immigrant labor to America’s past and present. His work portrays the struggle for a life of decency and dignity for these groups, critiquing policies that harm the poor and marginalized, and advocating for compassion and solidarity.