Singled Out: Wyatt Edmondson's If I Don't Try

K. Wiggins | 02-21-2020

Photo by Anna Haas courtesy Skye Media

Wyatt Edmondson released his new EP "If I Don't Try" this week and to celebrate we asked him to tell us about a song from the effort. Here is the story behind the title cut:

?The song I've chosen for this is "If I Don't Try," which is the title track to my new EP. This song came to me in college, and it's got a story.
When I was 15 years old, I found out I was diagnosed with retinitis pigment, a degenerative eye condition. While my friends were getting their drivers licenses and feeling truly free for the first time, I was dealing with the pain of feeling alone in my situation. I remember one night in particular where I was invited to a party where all my friends and a girl I liked would be at, but I just had no way to get there. I sat alone in my bedroom feeling my own quiet desperation when I reached for my guitar.
I remember strumming through songs that inspired me and thinking, "This is something they can't take away from me. It's mine to have and develop." I think in that moment and in the years following, I began to understand that nothing is truly impossible, unless you just don't try. If you just convince yourself that it won't work, then it won't. The opposite is also true. In writing "If I Don't Try," I was hoping to convince my listeners and myself of that.

Today, I'm sure it's true. I've tried hard, and I've succeeded. As a partially blind man who is unable to drive a car, I've now traveled thousands of miles across the country because of my music. I've met countless people who are now connected to my story and will continue this journey with me. I know their names and faces (some of them), and I know their stories. This train will keep on rolling, too. There's no stopping it once you believe.

So, if nothing else, I hope this song reminds the listener that it, whatever it is, can be done. It can happen. It will happen. You just have to try. God bless.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the EP right here!