On Boston's first album, the song "Rock 'n' Roll Band" includes the line "We were just another band out of Boston ..."

This tune was written before they had a record deal, and the lyric plainly describes how anonymous their situation was. And yet ... they were sufficiently presumptuous to go ahead and CALL THEMSELVES Boston!

(Vaguely) following that thread, the marvelous roots band Ward Hayden & the Outliers is also another band out of Boston. They couldn't call themselves Boston because THE Boston had already done so. Fair enough. What I'm suggesting, though, is that Ward Hayden & the Outliers change their name to Ward Hayden & the Southeastern Connecticuts. Because what's happened over their existence is that they've built such a strong following in this area that they're constantly getting brought back to one local venue or another.

This would make them sort of just another band out of southeastern Connecticut — but no one's using that name yet. Just a thought. When the 17th annual Blue Monday concert series kicks off for the summer on Monday in Mystic, Ward Hayden & the Outliers are headlining.

Unless they've changed their name to the Southeastern Connecticuts. Either way, expect fine material from their recent "Free Country" album. Or maybe even "More Than a Feeling."

Ward Hayden & the Outliers, 6-8 p.m. Monday, Mystic River Park, 28 Cottrell St., Mystic; Blue Monday series; free, donations or canned goods benefit Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center and the Stonington Education Fund music programs; see Facebook Blue Monday.