Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers was a band that traveled in the back of the Hot Rize bus and occasionally spelled their employers on stage. The foursome (Red Knckles, Wendell Mercantile, Waldo Otto, and Slade) played 40's and 50's country as well as you might expect from people who had mostly listened to the same jukebox for most of their lives. That jukebox, at the Eat Cafe in Wyoming, Montana, is where Red and the boys first met Hot Rize and agreed to leave their home to pursue fortune and fame.

The "fortune" part notwithstanding, the 'Blazers did become famous for their original brand of entertainment, featuring band choreography and Wendell's "take-off" guitar with fringe to match his outfit. The band took pride in offering for sale such products as Red Knuckles flyswatters, "I'm a Knucklehead" bumper stickers, and a hard-to-find song album, "Red Remembers the 60's (In His Own Style)".

There are people who say that Red Knuckles and Hot Rize were the same. No one knows where any of those people are now.