diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index fcf6ded..8d6a3c5 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [v0.5.1]
+- Fixed get record of status type [#27](https://github.com/xmidt-org/codex-db/pull/27)
+- Improved cassandra connect logic [#27](https://github.com/xmidt-org/codex-db/pull/27)
+
 ## [v0.5.0]
 - Added cassandra row_id with TIMEUUID for long-polling [#25](https://github.com/xmidt-org/codex-db/pull/25)
 
@@ -43,7 +47,8 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.
 ## [v0.1.0]
 - Initial creation, moved from: https://github.com/xmidt-org/codex-deploy
 
-[Unreleased]: https://github.com/xmidt-org/codex-db/compare/v0.5.0..HEAD
+[Unreleased]: https://github.com/xmidt-org/codex-db/compare/v0.5.1..HEAD
+[v0.5.1]: https://github.com/xmidt-org/codex-db/compare/v0.5.0..v0.5.1
 [v0.5.0]: https://github.com/xmidt-org/codex-db/compare/v0.4.0..v0.5.0
 [v0.4.0]: https://github.com/xmidt-org/codex-db/compare/v0.3.3..v0.4.0
 [v0.3.3]: https://github.com/xmidt-org/codex-db/compare/v0.3.2..v0.3.3
diff --git a/cassandra/db.go b/cassandra/db.go
index 826e168..61654ca 100644
--- a/cassandra/db.go
+++ b/cassandra/db.go
@@ -39,8 +39,11 @@ var (
 )
 
 const (
-	defaultOpTimeout = time.Duration(10) * time.Second
-	defaultDatabase  = "devices"
+	defaultOpTimeout             = time.Duration(10) * time.Second
+	defaultDatabase              = "devices"
+	defaultNumRetries            = 0
+	defaultWaitTimeMult          = 1
+	defaultMaxNumberConnsPerHost = 2
 )
 
 type Config struct {
@@ -68,6 +71,15 @@ type Config struct {
 	Username string
 	// Password to authenticate into the cluster. Username must also be provided.
 	Password string
+
+	// NumRetries for connecting to the db
+	NumRetries int
+
+	// WaitTimeMult the amount of time to wait before retrying to connect to the db
+	WaitTimeMult time.Duration
+
+	// MaxConnsPerHost max number of connections per host
+	MaxConnsPerHost int
 }
 
 type Connection struct {
@@ -95,6 +107,8 @@ func CreateDbConnection(config Config, provider provider.Provider, health *healt
 	clusterConfig.Consistency = gocql.LocalQuorum
 	clusterConfig.Keyspace = config.Database
 	clusterConfig.Timeout = config.OpTimeout
+	// let retry package handle it
+	clusterConfig.RetryPolicy = &gocql.SimpleRetryPolicy{NumRetries: 1}
 	// setup ssl
 	if config.SSLRootCert != "" && config.SSLCert != "" && config.SSLKey != "" {
 		clusterConfig.SslOpts = &gocql.SslOptions{
@@ -118,6 +132,14 @@ func CreateDbConnection(config Config, provider provider.Provider, health *healt
 	}
 
 	conn, err := connectWithMetrics(clusterConfig, dbConn.measures)
+
+	// retry if it fails
+	waitTime := 1 * time.Second
+	for attempt := 0; attempt < config.NumRetries && err != nil; attempt++ {
+		time.Sleep(waitTime)
+		conn, err = connectWithMetrics(clusterConfig, dbConn.measures)
+		waitTime = waitTime * config.WaitTimeMult
+	}
 	if err != nil {
 		return &Connection{}, emperror.WrapWith(err, "Connecting to database failed", "hosts", config.Hosts)
 	}
@@ -142,6 +164,15 @@ func validateConfig(config *Config) {
 	if config.Database == "" {
 		config.Database = defaultDatabase
 	}
+	if config.NumRetries < 0 {
+		config.NumRetries = defaultNumRetries
+	}
+	if config.WaitTimeMult < 1 {
+		config.WaitTimeMult = defaultWaitTimeMult
+	}
+	if config.MaxConnsPerHost <= 0 {
+		config.MaxConnsPerHost = defaultMaxNumberConnsPerHost
+	}
 }
 
 // GetRecords returns a list of records for a given device.
@@ -170,7 +201,7 @@ func (c *Connection) GetRecordsOfType(deviceID string, limit int, eventType db.E
 		filterString = "WHERE device_id = ? AND record_type = ? AND row_id > ?"
 		items = []interface{}{deviceID, eventType, stateHash}
 	}
-	deviceInfo, err := c.finder.findRecords(limit, filterString, items)
+	deviceInfo, err := c.finder.findRecords(limit, filterString, items...)
 	if err != nil {
 		c.measures.SQLQueryFailureCount.With(db.TypeLabel, db.ReadType).Add(1.0)
 		return []db.Record{}, emperror.WrapWith(err, "Getting records from database failed", "device id", deviceID)
diff --git a/cassandra/executer.go b/cassandra/executer.go
index fabbb3d..0ef8946 100644
--- a/cassandra/executer.go
+++ b/cassandra/executer.go
@@ -178,5 +178,4 @@ func connect(clusterConfig *gocql.ClusterConfig) (*dbDecorator, error) {
 	}
 
 	return &dbDecorator{session: session}, nil
-
 }