They're one of L.A.'s best homegrown talents.  The ticket to have....when you can get a ticket.  They're Venice, the popular folk/pop band, which takes its name from the southern California community its member have called home for more than four decades.

The strong local ties for this musical family helped set the tone for Born and Raised, the band's first major-label studio album in nearly seven years.

Released in 1997, the 16 tracks paint a musical picture which touches on virtually every human need.  Whether singing solo or in their trademark multi-part harmony, Venice explores the wonders of love, the sorrow of loss, and the miracle of just being alive.  It's a formula which has thrust brothers Michael and Mark Lennon and their cousins, brothers Kipp and Pat Lennon from the status of local phenomenon to the fringe of superstardom.

Though not a huge commercial success, Born and Raised was quickly gobbled up by some 20,000 fans at major record stores worldwide.  That figure, according to Michael, does not include sales at independent "mom & pop" outlets or the band's many live performances.

But perhaps more important for the member of Venice and its ever-growing legion of fans all over the world, the CD and its two singles, "If I Were You" and "Running Home," helped reintroduce the band to the music world outside of Los Angeles.  "In a way, the album really did what it was supposed to," lead singer Kipp told Showtime during a recent interview.

"Radio people noticed it.  Even though it didn't have the song they might have wanted to play, they really seemed to like it."

Programmers liked it so much, in fact, that some stations in smaller cities had up to four different Venice songs in their rotation.  So for most of the past of the 18 months, Venice has taken a grass roots approachto their marketing strategy.  Individually visiting a countless number of stations and their communities to prove live and on the air that they are for real.

"We know the people dig the band and they want our kind of music," guitarist Michael says.  "We've just got to get it out there."

"We've been around so long," adds Kipp.  "We really can't wait to get to opportunity to really show everybody that we can back it up."

For now, their efforts seem to have paid off.  According to Michael, "We were voted 'Album of the Year' by a lot of stations where the singles didn't even do that well!"

Their nationwide "tour" was an exhausting, no frills adventure which covered nearly 70,000 miles.

"We're talking a 12 passenger van with all of us and our equipment," Michael laughs.  "We had luggage on the roof and equipment in the back...no trailer, nothing.  Just us, packed in doing a nationwide tour."

At first, they admit, the band was skeptical about the proposition of life on the road.

"We said, 'We're too old to do that,' eat peanut butter and jelly or whatever.  But there we were, driving along in a van, sleeping on each other, sharing hotel rooms..."

For most musicians, constant touring is a built-in hazard of the business.  But for Venice, the experience could not have come at a more awkward time.  With a median age somewhere close to 40, each of the band's members have deeply-planted roots in southern California.  Mark just purchased a new home (which belonged to his mother before she passed away in 1996).  Michael and wife Danielle are preparing for daughter Avalon to enter pre-school.  And Kipp and his wife Jody just welcomed the newest Lennon, Roman John, six weeks ago.

"We're kind of like rabbits," Kipp jokes.  "We come from a long line of breeders."

That lineage extends back to 1917, when their grandparents, Bert and Betty Lennon first moved to Venice, California.  It was there that they raised their eight children.  Their son, Bill Lennon, had eleven children, including Kipp and Pat.  Another son, Ted Lennon, had thirteen, including Michael and Mark.  When all was said and done, the original eight had fifty-six children among them.

Recently, the torch was passed to Michael's brother Kevin, the band's live sound engineer, who just recently married and is expecting yet another new Lennon in October.

The Lennon family tree also includes boxing ring announcers Jimmy Lennon and Jimmy Lennon, Jr., The Lennon Brothers, a popular swing band in the '40s, and of course, The Lennon Sisters, a legendary vocal group from the '50s, who still perform their live act nightly in Branson, Missouri.

Following in their famous footsteps, Michael and Kipp first formed Venice in 1977.  The band got its start playing pop cover tunes at local high school parties.  14-year-old Mark, who would go on to become a lead singer, joined the band a year later.  And Pat came on board in 1980.  In 1991, they were awarded a national record deal with Modern/Atlantic records, and released their self-titled debut album.

"I guess that's why people think we've been around so long," Kipp jokes.  "I always say by the time we really make it big, we're going to be on our reunion tour."

But in the hearts of fans all over the world, Grammy awards and platinum albums are of little concern, as long as their favorite band continues to crank out new material.  These fans have transformed Venice from a small garage band into a big business which branches far beyond L.A.

"We've got this one fan on the internet who's got almost $500 worth of T-shirts and "Garage Demos" CDs pre-sold for us," Michael says.  "We're trying to figure out what to do right now, because we're all sold out."

That fan is Wanda Smith of Madison, Wisconsin.  Wanda -- whose current screen name is VeniceFan@aol.com -- was turned on to the band by a posting left on America Online by singer David Crosby.  She quickly purchased the Born and Raised CD and has since been hooked.

"I have never heard a CD where I have just loved every single song and fallen in love with it immediately," she told us by phone.  "It really just blew me away!"

In the past year, Wanda has seen Venice perform seven times ("In every different time zone," she notes), and even helped the band create a popular on-line posting site on AOL.  The site, which includes notes from fans, show reviews, and general Venice chat, is in the "General Rock" category under "Pop/Rock."  AOL subscribers can access the page by beginning with KEYWORD: MUSIC.

Net-savvy fans will also be excited to find a complete Venice concert recorded live last April at Chuba's in Chicago.

Wanda attended that concert along with other shows in New York City and Santa Rosa, California.  "There was a whole group of people at Chuba's from L.A.," she says.  "There was one guy there who said he has seen the band 106 times!"

Wanda may not be that big a fan yet, but she does admit she needs her fix of Venice music.  "A bunch of us on the Venice folder are going to be making a pilgrimage to L.A. in December for the Christmas show," she says.

In L.A., Wanda is likely to encounter some stuff competition in the "biggest fan" competition.  Among the faithful are many well-known celebrities.  Friend and fan David Crosby calls Venice "one of the best groups of any kind I have ever heard."  Audiences at recent shows have included comedian George Carlin, actors Jonathan Silverman and Christina Applegate, former Miss America Leanza Cornett, and Entertainment Tonight's Mark Steines.

"We're spoiled with our crowd here," Kipp says.  "We could keep playing gigs here forever."

To spread the word outside of town, Venice was recently featured on NBC's Extra, KTLA's Morning News, CNN's Showbiz Today, and, in April, on Live With Regis and Kathie Lee.  (In a completely unrelated move, Mark even appeared on The Dating Game).

So why then, with all this support and enthusiasm, has the band not yet really "made it?"

Critics charge that their trademark vocal harmony sound is dated, reminiscent of '70s supergroups like the Eagles, Crosby, Stills & Nash and the Little River Band.

"I think the only reason they say our sound is 'dated' is because there aren't any bands who do harmonies anymore," defends Kipp.  "But that doesn't mean it isn't good. It just means that nobody does it."

And that is just fine for the members of Venice.

"We're kind of just developing our own style," says Michael.  "I think that people that don't really listen to the record, or just listen to it once, say we sound like the Eagles, and that's normal.  It's good on the level that those are great groups, and they're big heroes of ours, and of course we're happy about that.  But on the other hand, if they really listen to us, they would say, 'Oh, actually, they (the Eagles) would never sing that song.'"

The Venice sound continues to evolve with each new recording.  The band is pleased to report that they are already back at work on their next CD.  According to Michael and Kipp, longtime fans may see some new arrangements of favorites from the self-produced "Garage Demos" CDs.  As for the popular cover tunes which often appear at the end of their live show?  They probably won't make the cut, but the band is looking for the right song to remake for future records.

According to Michael, who will return as producer for the new project, the new Venice material is "more punchy, more in-your-face."

With its release, the band plans another tour which will likely include cities such as Chicago, Louisville, Boulder and Cincinnati -- all strong markets for the band this time around.

Ironically, with the exception of California, where Venice music has been heard for generations, the band's strongest market is overseas -- Holland, to be exact.  CD sales are over 10,000 in that country alone, and response was overwhelming when Venice performed there in March.  According to Kipp, the band hopes to make a return trip in August.

Most of the cost of putting Venice on the road was borne by their label, Vanguard Records.  But despite the favorable reaction, none of the financial rewards have been realized yet.

"We keep putting money back into the band," says Kipp.  "The four of us have taken almost no money from this for the past year and a half."

Instead, the band members rely on sales on CDs at their live shows (they sold 92 opening for David Crosby in Santa Barbara!) and occasional session work in-between tours to pay the bills.

Members of Venice have toured and recorded with such artists as Stevie Nicks, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and Jackson Browne.  (In April, Venice performed for over 10,000 people in a free concert with Browne at the Santa Monica Pier.)

When not performing as Venice, Michael, Mark, Kipp and bass player Mark Harris pack 'em in at local beach bars as the Pine Mountain Logs.  This alter-ego cover band performs mostly popular Top 40 party tunes.

When not performing with his family, Kipp has developed a flourishing second career as a session singer.  In the '80s, he sang backup on the television series "Solid Gold," while Michael played guitar.  More recently, he contributed numerous songs to the animated television series "The Simpsons."  Two of his more popular contributions, "Happy Birthday, Lisa" and "Flaming Moe's" appear on the show's soundtrack CD on Rhino Records.

Kipp says he hasn't worked on the show much recently, though.  "They stopped using sound-alike stuff so much," he says.  "It's pretty funny, though.  Every once in a while, we'll be out on the road and we'll be signing CDs, and someone will hand me a "Songs In the Key of Springfield" CD, and they'll give me this look like, "I read the liner notes...I know it's you."