Local 12 is a Garage Band from the D.C. Metro area. The band began as a basement jam in the 1990s and has blossomed into a solid recording and performing unit. The current lineup consists of Bill Whitman (guitar, vocals), Michael Salveson (guitar, vocals), Garth Morgan (bass), and Mark Stevens (drums). Emeritus members are Rick McGahey (bass, vocals), Rob Kennedy (keyboards), and Tom Flaherty (bass, vocals).
The band released its first album, Baby Steps, in 2019. The album features 12 original songs by Bill and Michael and is available on this site. It, like the rest of our music, is also available on most streaming services and YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2KSIbBhWR0_4T6aH347Cig. It features some of the band’s favorite songs, such as Michael’s Monkey House and Lycanthropy and Bill’s Sunshine and Forever Man. At the time it was recorded, the band had no bass player, so Michael and Bill each played bass on their own songs.
In 2020, the band began its second album project under very different circumstances. With the pandemic raging, the band could not get together for in-person recording sessions. Undaunted, the guys taught themselves to record their parts remotely, using Audacity recording software. Parts were recorded to click tracks and shared centrally, so each player was able to listen to the existing tracks and add his own tracks to the mix, building bit by bit into coherent songs (we hope). These raw collections of many tracks were expertly mixed and mastered by Conrad Osipowicz of Blue Room Productions.
The second album is called Data Polo, in honor of the process by which it was created. By this time, Garth had joined the band, so the bass playing reflects a major upgrade. Mark had moved to New York, where his acoustic drums were replaced by an electronic kit. The album features 12 new original songs by Bill and Michael. They range from Michael’s 3-song cycle addressing 3 stages of the pandemic to Bill’s songs about submolecular love, tech overload, and the pure joy of rock and roll. The band is proud of its work on Data Polo and hopes that listeners will find songs to make them think, smile, and dance! These tunes and the CD are also available on this site.
Local Twelve’s third album, Nothing Good, was released with great fanfare on Thanksgiving 2025. It features sixteen new songs written by Michael and Bill. As for the second album, band members recorded their parts at home, in their basements (including a guest vocal by Bill’s daughter, Katie). Again, the tracks were expertly mixed and mastered by Conrad Osipowicz at Blue Room Studios in Bethesda. The process is like making a mosaic portrait out of a pile of broken glass. These songs are full of snark, surrealism, humor, and passion, not to mention some pretty good musicianship, if we do say so ourselves.
The tunes will be sent out to family and friends on our mailing list gradually over the coming months. Those of you who cannot wait can download the tunes or buy the CD here. Again, they are also available on streaming services everywhere and on YouTube. Let us know what you think!
