Inside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, photo by Bart Parks.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducted this year’s crop of honorees this week, which included Alice Cooper, Neil Diamond, Tom Waits, Darlene Love, Dr. John and Leon Russell.

While Conor Oberst obviously is not in the Hall of Fame (maybe in another 20 years, if he’s lucky), Lazy-i reader Bart Parks shared the above photo he took while visiting the Hall a couple weeks ago.

“I was looking at the Midwest rockers exhibit, and right next to the Replacements stuff was Omaha’s own Conor Oberst,” Bart said, “his silk jacket from Mystic Valley Band and also an acoustic guitar.” Also in the photo, above the jacket, you’ll notice a copy of Bright Eyes’ I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning. That also looks like a copy of Freedy Johnson’s This Perfect World, and (of course) The Replacements’ Please to Meet Me.

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Speaking of Bright Eyes, Mike Fratt, who runs Homer’s Music, said BE’s latest release, The People’s Key, stayed in the Billboard top-100 again last week, but just barely. With unit sales of 4,908, the record sits at No. 99 on the charts. Total unit sales since its release is 63,143, Fratt said. Meanwhile, “Shell Game,” the first single from the album, continues to inch its way up the Triple A radio airplay chart, coming in at No. 24 this week (up from No. 25 last week).

By the way…”Industry beat last year again last week, by 2%,” Fratt said. “That’s four weeks in a row.” Something’s happening here…

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Tonight at The Barley Street Tavern, Midwest Dilemma plays a warm-up gig before they head to Austin for South By Southwest. Also on the bill are The National Reserve, Christopher Bell and Ian Aeillo. $5, 9 p.m.
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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.