Kansas drummer Phil Ehart will be publishing his new memoir I Am Phil later this month, and co-writer Paul Braoudakis has provided RIAB an exclusive excerpt from the book where Paul describes his love and respect for Rush and his friendship with Neil Peart. The excerpt begins with Paul describing how early in his career, Peart requested some of Paul's help contacting Slingerland drums about an endorsement; Ehart had been endorsing Slingerland for a few years at the time. Long story short, Slingerland were not interested because they did not care for Rush's music (!!):

... "Nobody likes this band," [the Slingerland rep] said. "Are you serious?" were the only words I could muster. "Yes, I'm serious," he retorted. "We don't like them. We can't stand the singer." "What does the singer have to do with anything?" I asked. "Did you listen to the drums? Neil should be endorsing your drums. He's a great player and he's only going to become greater." "Nah, can't do it. It's usually up to me as to who we sign, because I have to work closely with them, and I just don't hear it." "You know," I replied, "You're going to go down in history as the guy who passed on Neil Peart. Every single night, I see thousands of kids out there air-drumming to this guy. He's a phenomenon. This is a huge mistake." "I really don't care," he said nonchalantly. "You're not going to convince me, Phil." And that was that. The next day, Neil came to me and asked how the conversation with Slingerland went. "They're passing on you, Neil," I said. "I'm so sorry." Neil was incredulous. "What??" "Yeah, man. They passed. The guy's exact words were, 'I don't care.'" It's amusing to think about it now and to realize what a colossal mistake Slingerland made, but at the time, I know it stung Neil. It was a real head-scratcher for me as well. I'd watch the guy every freaking night just burn the place down ... and Slingerland says, "Nah, he's not for us." Thankfully, Neil got over it pretty quickly, and in time, he would go on to endorse a great many products. ...

He goes on to describe the mutual love and respect both bands had for eachother:

We actually had a great relationship with all the guys in Rush. Both bands were emerging around the same time, and we were both pushing the limits of progressive rock to the best of our abilities. Neil and I would compare notes all the time. In fact, he came to me shortly after Leftoverture was released and told me that one of my drum parts on the song "Magnum Opus" was giving him fits. I explained to him how I was playing the part and counted it out for him. He came up to me a few days later after watching us play the song a few times, and he said he felt so stupid because now that he knew the pattern, it was so simple. We had a good laugh about it. The Rush guys told us that they would vote for us every year in the Melody Maker polls in the best songwriters category. That was incredibly sweet of them, and I never forgot it. Many years later, Rich, Steve, and I played at the Music and Tennis Festival charity event in California alongside Lou Gramm of Foreigner, Kevin Cronin from REO Speedwagon, and several others. Alex Lifeson joined us on stage and sat in on "Carry on Wayward Son." I then joined Geddy Lee and Alex (Neil wasn't there for some reason) and played on their song, "Closer to the Heart." In 2020, I learned, along with the rest of the world, that a brain tumor had taken Neil's life. When I heard that he was gone, I felt a shadow cross my heart (an appropriate reference to one of his brilliant lyrics). I lost a good friend that day, and the world lost one of the most prolific drummers/lyricists ever. Thankfully, his performances will live forever, inspiring drummers for generations to come. I'm a better drummer and a better man for having known him.

For information on how to pre-order I Am Phil, visit PhilEhart.net.