diff --git a/cr8/bench_spec.py b/cr8/bench_spec.py
index 4940c61..b739a4d 100644
--- a/cr8/bench_spec.py
+++ b/cr8/bench_spec.py
@@ -30,12 +30,13 @@ def from_dict(d):
 
 
 class Spec:
-    def __init__(self, setup, teardown, queries=None, load_data=None, meta=None):
+    def __init__(self, setup, teardown, queries=None, load_data=None, meta=None, session_settings=None):
         self.setup = setup
         self.teardown = teardown
         self.queries = queries
         self.load_data = load_data
         self.meta = meta or {}
+        self.session_settings = session_settings or {}
 
     @staticmethod
     def from_dict(d):
@@ -45,6 +46,7 @@ def from_dict(d):
             meta=d.get('meta', {}),
             queries=d.get('queries', []),
             load_data=d.get('load_data', []),
+            session_settings=d.get('session_settings', {}),
         )
 
     @staticmethod
diff --git a/cr8/clients.py b/cr8/clients.py
index 6164b49..0c6de01 100644
--- a/cr8/clients.py
+++ b/cr8/clients.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import json
+
 import aiohttp
 import itertools
 import calendar
@@ -6,7 +7,7 @@
 import time
 from urllib.parse import urlparse, parse_qs, urlunparse
 from datetime import datetime, date
-from typing import List, Union, Iterable
+from typing import List, Union, Iterable, Dict
 from decimal import Decimal
 from cr8.aio import asyncio  # import via aio for uvloop setup
 
@@ -216,18 +217,25 @@ def _verify_ssl_from_first(hosts):
 
 
 class AsyncpgClient:
-    def __init__(self, hosts, pool_size=25):
+    def __init__(self, hosts, pool_size=25, session_settings=None):
         self.dsn = _to_dsn(hosts)
         self.pool_size = pool_size
         self._pool = None
         self.is_cratedb = True
+        self.session_settings = session_settings or {}
 
     async def _get_pool(self):
+
+        async def set_session_settings(conn):
+            for setting, value in self.session_settings.items():
+                await conn.execute(f'set {setting}={value}')
+
         if not self._pool:
             self._pool = await asyncpg.create_pool(
                 self.dsn,
                 min_size=self.pool_size,
-                max_size=self.pool_size
+                max_size=self.pool_size,
+                init=set_session_settings
             )
         return self._pool
 
@@ -308,59 +316,83 @@ def _append_sql(host):
 
 
 class HttpClient:
-    def __init__(self, hosts, conn_pool_limit=25):
+    def __init__(self, hosts, conn_pool_limit=25, session_settings=None):
         self.hosts = hosts
         self.urls = itertools.cycle(list(map(_append_sql, hosts)))
-        self._connector_params = {
-            'limit': conn_pool_limit,
-            'verify_ssl': _verify_ssl_from_first(self.hosts)
-        }
-        self.__session = None
+        self.conn_pool_limit = conn_pool_limit
         self.is_cratedb = True
-
-    @property
-    async def _session(self):
-        session = self.__session
-        if session is None:
-            conn = aiohttp.TCPConnector(**self._connector_params)
-            self.__session = session = aiohttp.ClientSession(connector=conn)
-        return session
+        self._pools = {}
+        self.session_settings = session_settings or {}
+
+    async def _session(self, url):
+        pool = self._pools.get(url)
+        if not pool:
+            pool = asyncio.Queue(maxsize=self.conn_pool_limit)
+            self._pools[url] = pool
+            _connector_params = {
+                'limit': 1,
+                'verify_ssl': _verify_ssl_from_first(self.hosts)
+            }
+            for n in range(0, self.conn_pool_limit):
+                tcp_connector = aiohttp.TCPConnector(**_connector_params)
+                session = aiohttp.ClientSession(connector=tcp_connector)
+                for setting, value in self.session_settings.items():
+                    payload = {'stmt': f'set {setting}={value}'}
+                    await _exec(
+                        session,
+                        url,
+                        dumps(payload, cls=CrateJsonEncoder)
+                    )
+                pool.put_nowait(session)
+
+        return await pool.get()
 
     async def execute(self, stmt, args=None):
         payload = {'stmt': _plain_or_callable(stmt)}
         if args:
             payload['args'] = _plain_or_callable(args)
-        session = await self._session
-        return await _exec(
+        url = next(self.urls)
+        session = await self._session(url)
+        result = await _exec(
             session,
-            next(self.urls),
+            url,
             dumps(payload, cls=CrateJsonEncoder)
         )
+        await self._pools[url].put(session)
+        return result
 
     async def execute_many(self, stmt, bulk_args):
         data = dumps(dict(
             stmt=_plain_or_callable(stmt),
             bulk_args=_plain_or_callable(bulk_args)
         ), cls=CrateJsonEncoder)
-        session = await self._session
-        return await _exec(session, next(self.urls), data)
+        url = next(self.urls)
+        session = await self._session(url)
+        result = await _exec(session, url, data)
+        await self._pools[url].put(session)
+        return result
 
     async def get_server_version(self):
-        session = await self._session
         urlparts = urlparse(self.hosts[0])
         url = urlunparse((urlparts.scheme, urlparts.netloc, '/', '', '', ''))
+        session = await self._session(url)
         async with session.get(url) as resp:
             r = await resp.json()
             version = r['version']
-            return {
+            result = {
                 'hash': version['build_hash'],
                 'number': version['number'],
                 'date': _date_or_none(version['build_timestamp'][:10])
             }
+            await self._pools[url].put(session)
+            return result
 
     async def _close(self):
-        if self.__session:
-            await self.__session.close()
+        for url, pool in self._pools.items():
+            while not pool.empty():
+                session = await pool.get()
+                await session.close()
+        self._pools = {}
 
     def close(self):
         asyncio.get_event_loop().run_until_complete(self._close())
@@ -372,10 +404,10 @@ def __exit__(self, exc_type, exc_val, exc_tb):
         self.close()
 
 
-def client(hosts, concurrency=25):
+def client(hosts, session_settings=None, concurrency=25):
     hosts = hosts or 'localhost:4200'
     if hosts.startswith('asyncpg://'):
         if not asyncpg:
             raise ValueError('Cannot use "asyncpg" scheme if asyncpg is not available')
-        return AsyncpgClient(hosts, pool_size=concurrency)
-    return HttpClient(_to_http_hosts(hosts), conn_pool_limit=concurrency)
+        return AsyncpgClient(hosts, pool_size=concurrency, session_settings=session_settings)
+    return HttpClient(_to_http_hosts(hosts), conn_pool_limit=concurrency, session_settings=session_settings)
diff --git a/cr8/engine.py b/cr8/engine.py
index 213786b..fbe8170 100644
--- a/cr8/engine.py
+++ b/cr8/engine.py
@@ -5,8 +5,7 @@
 
 from cr8 import aio
 from cr8.metrics import Stats, get_sampler
-from cr8.clients import client
-
+from cr8.clients import client, HttpClient
 
 TimedStats = namedtuple('TimedStats', ['started', 'ended', 'stats'])
 
@@ -69,9 +68,9 @@ def _generate_statements(stmt, args, iterations, duration):
 
 
 class Runner:
-    def __init__(self, hosts, concurrency, sample_mode):
+    def __init__(self, hosts, concurrency, sample_mode, session_settings=None):
         self.concurrency = concurrency
-        self.client = client(hosts, concurrency=concurrency)
+        self.client = client(hosts, session_settings=session_settings, concurrency=concurrency)
         self.sampler = get_sampler(sample_mode)
 
     def warmup(self, stmt, num_warmup, concurrency=0, args=None):
diff --git a/cr8/run_spec.py b/cr8/run_spec.py
index d3f0d37..3216fc7 100644
--- a/cr8/run_spec.py
+++ b/cr8/run_spec.py
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ def _skip_message(self, min_version, stmt):
             server_version='.'.join((str(x) for x in self.server_version)))
         return msg
 
-    def run_queries(self, queries: Iterable[dict], meta=None):
+    def run_queries(self, queries: Iterable[dict], meta=None, session_settings=None):
         for query in queries:
             stmt = query['statement']
             iterations = query.get('iterations', 1)
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ def run_queries(self, queries: Iterable[dict], meta=None):
                  f'   Concurrency: {concurrency}\n'
                  f'   {mode_desc}: {duration or iterations}')
             )
-            with Runner(self.benchmark_hosts, concurrency, self.sample_mode) as runner:
+            with Runner(self.benchmark_hosts, concurrency, self.sample_mode, session_settings) as runner:
                 if warmup > 0:
                     runner.warmup(stmt, warmup, concurrency, args)
                 timed_stats = runner.run(
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ def do_run_spec(spec,
                     queries = (q for q in spec.queries if 'name' in q and rex.match(q['name']))
                 else:
                     queries = spec.queries
-                executor.run_queries(queries, spec.meta)
+                executor.run_queries(queries, spec.meta, spec.session_settings)
         finally:
             if not action or 'teardown' in action:
                 log.info('# Running tearDown')
diff --git a/specs/count_countries.json b/specs/count_countries.json
index 31fe1e1..1d21d91 100644
--- a/specs/count_countries.json
+++ b/specs/count_countries.json
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@
             }
         ]
     },
+    "session_settings": {
+            "application_name": "my_app",
+            "timezone": "UTC"
+    },
     "queries": [{
         "iterations": 1000,
         "statement": "select count(*) from countries"
diff --git a/specs/sample.py b/specs/sample.py
index 5575a3c..df6283b 100644
--- a/specs/sample.py
+++ b/specs/sample.py
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-
 from itertools import count
 from cr8.bench_spec import Spec, Instructions
 
@@ -21,4 +20,5 @@ def queries():
     setup=Instructions(statements=["create table t (x int)"]),
     teardown=Instructions(statements=["drop table t"]),
     queries=queries(),
-)
+    session_settings={'application_name': 'my_app', 'timezone': 'UTC'}
+)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/specs/sample.toml b/specs/sample.toml
index cf61bb4..04b9991 100644
--- a/specs/sample.toml
+++ b/specs/sample.toml
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@ statement_files = ["sql/create_countries.sql"]
     target = "countries"
     cmd = ['echo', '{"capital": "Demo"}']
 
+[session_settings]
+application_name = 'my_app'
+timezone = 'UTC'
+
 [[queries]]
 name = "count countries" # Can be used to give the queries a name for easier analytics of the results
 statement = "select count(*) from countries"
diff --git a/tests/test_integration.py b/tests/test_integration.py
index b30b365..bd4845c 100644
--- a/tests/test_integration.py
+++ b/tests/test_integration.py
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ def parse(self, string, name='<string>'):
 class SourceBuildTest(TestCase):
 
     def test_build_from_branch(self):
-        self.assertIsNotNone(get_crate('4.1'))
+        self.assertIsNotNone(get_crate('5.8'))
 
 
 def load_tests(loader, tests, ignore):
diff --git a/tests/test_spec.py b/tests/test_spec.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..865aa99
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_spec.py
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+import os
+from unittest import TestCase
+from doctest import DocTestSuite
+
+from cr8.bench_spec import load_spec
+
+from cr8 import engine
+
+
+class SpecTest(TestCase):
+
+    def test_session_settings_from_spec(self):
+        spec = self.get_spec('sample.py')
+        self.assertEqual(spec.session_settings, {'application_name': 'my_app', 'timezone': 'UTC'})
+
+    def test_session_settings_from_toml(self):
+        spec = self.get_spec('sample.toml')
+        self.assertEqual(spec.session_settings, {'application_name': 'my_app', 'timezone': 'UTC'})
+
+    def test_session_settings_from_json(self):
+        spec = self.get_spec('count_countries.json')
+        self.assertEqual(spec.session_settings, {'application_name': 'my_app', 'timezone': 'UTC'})
+
+    def get_spec(self, name):
+        return load_spec(os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '../specs/', name)))
+
+
+def load_tests(loader, tests, ignore):
+    tests.addTests(DocTestSuite(engine))
+    return tests