Jerry Rowley was a pioneering country and rockabilly singer who recruited his wife Evelyn and sister Dido (Vera) to work with him and many other early 1950s performers. They started out as the Rowley Trio in their native Nederland, Texas, and soon moved on to Beaumont, Texas, where they backed Lefty Frizzell at Radio Station KFDM.
Their break came when they joined the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport, Louisiana in the early 1950s. For a long period, the Louisiana Hayride competed with the Grand Ole Opry for a national audience, and the more encompassing and eclectic Louisiana Hayride attracted early rock ‘n roll singers before—and in many cases—instead of the Grand Ole Opry.
At the Louisiana Hayride, the Rowleys started working with Johnny Horton and Fabor Robison. Robison owned Fabor, Radio and Abbott Records and backed Johnny Horton to the extent that he started Abbott Records to put out Johnny Horton’s music and was also his manager. Through Robison’s efforts, Johnny Horton started performing throughout the West. His backing band was the Rowley Trio, in an act called "The Singing Fisherman and the Rowley Trio." Later it became "Johnny Horton and the Roadrunners."
The Rowleys were responsible for getting Johnny Horton to the next gig and drove him and themselves. At the performances, Jerry Rowley played the fiddle, Evelyn played the piano and Dido played bass or guitar.
Fabor Records put out releases by the Rowleys in a number of configurations, including Jerry Rowley individually and Dido Rowley individually as well as Jerry and Dido Rowley as a duo and The Rowley Trio. Unusual for Fabor Robison, the Rowleys were performers rather than writers and performers.
