ONE MORE CHRISTMAS – Trace Adkins and a Father’s Quiet Wish to Make Things Right
Behind the bright lights and the booming baritone voice, Trace Adkins carried a weight few ever saw: the regret of a father who missed too many Christmas mornings. “One More Christmas” isn’t just another holiday track — it’s a whispered confession wrapped in Celtic strings, a plea for one more chance before time slips away for good.
The father who wasn’t home for the holidays
Between 2010 and 2013, Trace lived a life that looked perfect from the outside. Tours sold out. TV appearances stacked up. His deep Southern voice became one of the most recognizable sounds in American country music.
But behind that success came the struggles: heavy drinking, rehab, and a growing emotional distance inside his home. Christmas, a season meant for warmth and family, quietly became a reminder of the moments he wasn’t there — the Christmas mornings he missed, the smiles he didn’t see, the memories that formed without him. That is the emotional soil where “One More Christmas” took root.
“If I could just have one more…”
The song begins like a prayer. No grand declarations, no dramatic crescendos — just a heartfelt request for one more Christmas. One more chance to sit at the table, one more morning to watch his children unwrap gifts, one more evening to feel like a father again.
Trace sings with a voice weathered by years of living too fast and too far from home. It’s the sound of someone who has looked back and realized how quickly children grow… and how easily a man can miss it.
Each lyric feels like a step toward reconciliation — with himself, with his family, and with time.
The unspoken fear beneath the song
During this period, Trace’s long marriage with Rhonda reached a breaking point. Rehab forced him to confront the parts of himself he had avoided for years. And while recovering, the memories that haunted him most were the Christmases he wasn’t around for his daughters: Brianna, Trinity, and Mackenzie. He couldn’t get those years back. But he could fight for the next one.
“One More Christmas” became the voice of that fear — the fear that one day, the opportunity to make things right would disappear completely.
A song for fathers who want a second chance
When The King’s Gift was released in 2013, fans admired the Celtic production, but they felt “One More Christmas.” It hit home for men in their 40s, 50s, and 60s — the fathers who worked too much, drank too much, traveled too much, and woke up one day realizing their families had learned to live without them. The song didn’t judge. It simply reminded them that showing up — even once more — can change everything.
Trace Adkins today speaks of his daughters with pride, gratitude, and humility. He is more present, calmer, grounded. And whenever he talks about “One More Christmas,” he says only:
“I wrote it for the people who know what it means to want another chance.”