Sleepytime Trio started out in Harrisonburg, Virginia, as a side project of the band Maximillian Colby in the fall of 1994. Sleepytime Trio was originally Drew Ringo on guitar, Ben Davis on bass, and Jonathan Fuller on drums. They played shows around the mid-Atlantic region and then in the summer of '95 added guitarist Dave Nesmith who played with Drew in Maximillian Colby. As Maximillian Colby began dissipating, Sleepytime Trio became everybody's full time band and started playing more. With the line-up established, the no longer three-piece Sleepytime Trio did a whirlwind tour in the summer of 1996, playing 20 shows in 17 days, going from Virginia to Florida, Chicago, Quebec, and back to Washington, DC.

Sleepytime Trio managed to control chaos to an almost uncontrollable point. Seeing them live was always a surprise as nobody knew quite what to expect, for at any instant combustion might have occurred.

The band took an extended hiatus in 1998, as Drew relocated to Seattle, and the remaining members went on to form Engine Down, Rah Bras, and Milemarker. Sleepytime Trio lived again in May 1999, as they played the cities of Chapel Hill, DC, Philadelphia, Worcester, and New York in rapid succession. After taking yet another hiatus, they played several shows on the east coast again in December 1999 with hose.got.cable. Filled with manic kids, a Trio member's bruised head, catharsis, and love, these two reunion tours will be memories for the ages. 

On 1 December 2007, Sleepytime Trio performed
together again during the Action Patrol reunion gig at Alley Katz in
Richmond, VA.