The kind of article you're proposing would be of interest to some, Jack, but those of us unable to strap on a back-pack and get hiking wouldn't really be able to relate to it very well (it would be like looking at someone else's "what I did on my holidays" essay). By concentrating on performers who have recorded music that's (relatively) widely available, the magazine offers its readers a chance to evaluate the writing in the context of music they can actually hear.