diff --git a/src/session/session_redis.go b/src/session/session_redis.go
index 3483d46..d7bcedb 100644
--- a/src/session/session_redis.go
+++ b/src/session/session_redis.go
@@ -1,15 +1,37 @@
 package session
 
 import (
+	"context"
+
 	"astraltech.xyz/accountmanager/src/logging"
+	"github.com/redis/go-redis/v9"
 )
 
 type RedisStore struct {
+	client *redis.Client
 }
 
 func NewRedisStore() *RedisStore {
-	logging.Debug("Creating new in redis session store")
-	store := &RedisStore{}
+	logging.Debug("Creating new redis session store")
+
+	redis_server := "localhost:6379"
+
+	// redis values will need to be loaded from the config file
+	rdb := redis.NewClient(&redis.Options{
+		Addr:     redis_server,
+		Password: "",
+		DB:       0,
+	})
+
+	if err := rdb.Ping(context.Background()).Err(); err != nil {
+		logging.Errorf("Failed to connect to redis server %s", redis_server)
+	} else {
+		logging.Infof("Successfully connected to redis server %s", redis_server)
+	}
+
+	store := &RedisStore{
+		client: rdb,
+	}
 	return store
 }