Colville Singer/Songwriter Debuts Song Celebrating the Nation

September 9, 2026

By:

Meredith Carroll

Floyd Kelly and his beloved dog. Photo by Meredith Carroll.

Perseverance, hard work, and innovation; these are words that Floyd Kelly uses to describe the United States of America and its 250th year of independence, an event that has inspired him musically. Kelly, a Colville resident who hails from Houston, Texas, said he started making music in 2013. He wrote “Happy Birthday, U.S.A” this year to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday, and is the creative director, executive producer and lyricist for the song. “I wanted to do something on my own that was unique,” said Kelly. “I was inspired by an article about Gloria and Emilio Estefan, when they released their uplifting patriotic song ‘America’ as part of America’s Soundtrack, an official America250 initiative celebrating the United States’ 250th anniversary. I asked myself, ‘How do I write the words to capture this event as well as an audience?’ Writing lyrics is difficult at times. I revised my lyrics at least a dozen times during the writing process. When making ‘Happy Birthday, U.S.A,’ I used ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ as a reference.”

Before 2013, Kelly said he had worked in computer programming, and before that, in the United States Marine Corps and he had no interest in music. Once inspired, he had the desire to make music but didn’t have the training. “I taught myself by reading ‘Music Theory for Dummies,’” he said. “And then I taught myself music composing by hand and then sound mixing. It was not until years later that Artificial Intelligence (AI) came into play – that would be 2024.” Kelly said he used the music generator, Udio, when writing and composing his song.

“AI transformed what I can do. It’s more than just plugging something into a computer. Every song out there has a structure, such as an introduction, a chorus, a verse. I passed this structure into AI, and then I tell it how I want the song to sound: a rock song, a ballad, etc. I factor in tempo, voices. The AI program generates the song over and over. With each iteration, I can modify the style, the lyrics, etc. It took 87 takes for ‘Happy Birthday, U.S.A.’ to be what it is now.” He continued, “ It is important to note that I did not simply type a sentence into AI to get a song. There is so much more to the process. I do not hide the fact that I used AI, and I give the proper credits when I distribute my music to the world.”

Kelly said he started producing albums and making music in 2013. He joined the Recording Academy two years later, which is the academy that sponsors the Grammy Awards. Kelly produced five albums, all of them instrumental, and all of them independently. “I remember sitting in my junior high school classroom in 1976, when we were celebrating our nation’s 200th anniversary. As a young junior high student, I had no idea I would be writing a song commemorating the U.S.A. 250th anniversary. I believe that this is my country. I love my country. I wanted this song to be unifying. This song brings people together.” Kelly said he made a song that people can sing.

“It’s not a complicated song. It is considered an evergreen song, which means that it is a song that everyone knows by heart, and people play it over and over again.” Once Kelly finished ‘Happy Birthday, U.S.A.,’ he embarked on the journey of making his song known. “I made a grassroots effort to get radio stations in all 50 states to play my song. Not a single one of the radio stations responded to me. I was determined to get on the radio somewhere. After that, I reached out to a radio station that I knew would play anybody. This radio station was in the United Kingdom (UK). Great Britain’s Prospect Radio played ‘Happy Birthday, U.S.A.’ in their rotation of over 500 other artists across their country on the 4th of July.”

The irony was not lost on Kelly. “It was very ironic that a British radio station played my song that celebrates American independence. I was turned down by my own country but got radio airplay in the UK. It made me laugh.” Kelly said the next day, on July 5, he checked TikTok and discovered over 540 videos created by people across the United States using his song as the backdrop to their celebrations.

The song made it to spot 17 on the Prospect Radio charts, Kelly said.” Kelly’s next goal is to get his music transcribed so that a real conductor can lead real performances. He said he wants to have the song transcribed in hopes of having the sheet music available to others online in the sheet music marketplace. “The availability of sheet music will help in creating jobs from this human and AI collaboration.” In addition to his music, he also writes short stories that he describes as “absurdist humor and mythological fiction.”

Kelly is also working on a memoir that he described as “powerful, moving, and serious.” After he polishes his memoir, he plans to publish it via Kindle. Kelly said he has enjoyed living in Colville the past eight years. “I was born in Houston, and then I lived in lots of places: New York, Los Angeles, Alaska. I don’t really know why I came to Colville. I just followed my heart. I showed up here at the right time, at the right place. I live with my chocolate lab. She’s seven-and-a-half years old and has lupus, but she is doing great.”

Kelly said he clung to his dream and didn’t give up on his song even in the face of rejection. “I have encountered so many people who want to give up. My motto is ‘don’t give up.’ If you do, you will never see anything happen. If you do not give up, you may see results; they may not be the results expected, but anything is better than nothing, which is what happens when giving up.” For more information about Kelly, visit his website floydkellycreates.com.

Lyrics to “Happy Birthday, U.S.A.”

“Oh

Two-hundred-fifty years USA

Still growing as we find our way

Our hope trying to stay true

By what we try by what we choose

Happy birthday USA

Here we stand still here today

Still here still free

Still becoming what we can be

Hand in hand come what may

Happy birthday USA