WORCESTER – The Turn It Down All Stars featuring Fatima Elmi-Dwinnells presents a tribute, semi-acoustic performance of Led Zeppelin IV at the Jean McDonough Arts Center (JMAC), at 20 Franklin St. in Worcester, on Saturday, Nov. 16.
The performance is the third annual event for charity by the All Stars and event organizer Ellen Walsh, of West Boylston.
The event is a fundraiser for In the Hour of Need Family Shelter (IHN), a privately funded non-profit organization on June Street that supports local homeless families with children under 18 years old.
Elmi-Dwinnells, formerly a long-time member of the Ultrasonic Rock Orchestra in Arlington, is an actress and has been part of stage productions of musicals such as “Hair” and “The Color Purple.”
Performing with Elmi-Dwinnells are Jim Walsh on drums, Bruce Rothney on mandolin, Reed Brewer on bass, and both Steve Egolf and Sean Ryder on guitar.
Walsh, Rothney, Brewer, and Egolf perform as The Rock Blockerz. Each is involved in other projects as well. Ryder performs as a solo artist, as part of the duo Solace, and with a country act, Backyard Swagger.
The Worcester-based all-women ukulele band Betty Machete and the Jumping Fleas opens the show. Performing since 2022, the act performs mostly from the 70s and 80s and some originals.
IHN operates a three-story home in the Newton Square area that is one of the few privately held shelters in Massachusetts. The shelter serves families experiencing homelessness and do not qualify for state-funded emergency assistance shelter.
IHN accepts families regardless of income and family structure, enabling families to stay together. The program provides housing assistance, food assistance, job training, and case management. It also provides individualized services for health, establishing income, financial literacy, and housing advocacy.
Families stay with IHN for an average of six to nine months. Since 1997, over 90 percent of families in the program have found safe, stable housing. Some have settled in the area and continue to volunteer at the IHN home.
Learn more about the event and get tickets here.
