diff --git a/MarkovBot/Redis.pm b/MarkovBot/Redis.pm
index 6af3716..7760ae8 100644
--- a/MarkovBot/Redis.pm
+++ b/MarkovBot/Redis.pm
@@ -7,13 +7,21 @@ use warnings;
 our @EXPORT = qw(redis);
 
 use Redis;
+use FindBin qw($Bin);
+use lib $Bin;
+use MarkovBot::Config;
 
 sub redis() {
   # Returns a redis object
   # This is fairly useless but in the future could be used to
   # pass specific options to redis.
+  #
+  # TODO: support connection to redis via a socket
 
-  return Redis->new();
+  return new Redis (
+    server => config("redis_server"),
+    password => (config("redis_usepass") eq "true") ? config("redis_password") : undef,
+  );
 }
 
 1;
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 95cbb27..7de3ce6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ The original shithead uses far too much ram and is badly implemented.
 Let's reimplement it and get redis to do all the heavy lifting.
 
 ## Getting Started
-First, set up dependencies. You need a redis server running locally (currently, AUTH and remote servers are not supported, this will be supported in the future) and the necessary perl modules:
+First, set up dependencies. You need a redis server and the necessary perl modules:
 
 ```bash
 # install cpanminus with your package manager of choice (preferred), or install it through cpan:
diff --git a/config.default.yml b/config.default.yml
index e886432..4887c5b 100644
--- a/config.default.yml
+++ b/config.default.yml
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ insult: "you're a faggot"
 # Redis Settings
 #
 redis_prefix: markov
+redis_server: 127.0.0.1:6379
+redis_usepass: false
+redis_password: hunter2
 
 #
 # IRC Settings